Why You’re Not Blogging -And Why You Should Start Today!

Those of you who aren't ready to wade into the Blog pool are taking your time for several reasons, according to my informal interviews with people before and after they blog. Others start blogging and then abandon their projects too soon, unaware of the benefits.

Whatever your reason, you should get started now – or get back to blogging as the case may be. Here’s some motivating enlightenment that you may find surprising.

Reason # 1 that you aren't blogging - You don't realize how huge the benefits are, and how much they may outweigh any monetary or time costs involved.

I think number one may partly the fault of people like me, who have a foot in the marketing arena, and don't explain the idea in detail.

We tend to tell you how great blogging is, but we don't tell you why, or better yet, show you. Or we tell you how to get the best results with your blog, but don't tell you where to start. Let's talk about some of the basic facts.

If you've ever dreamed of going from getting 10 hits a month to getting a few dozen visitors a day from search engines, blogging can make it possible, if you do it right. The structure of a blog, and the fact that most of them automatically generate content feeds, also make them the best food for your friendly neighborhood search engine spider.

If you would like to have visitors come back to your site over and over again, until they buy, you may want to be a blogger. An informative blog that engages your audience shortens the sales cycle. It also creates a courtship period. They can subscribe to your thoughts, see if they like you, even get to know you a little.

People buy from people they like. I don’t remember who said it first, but I’ve learned that it’s the truth.

If your visitors don't feel like they are getting a personality vibe from you, they are often less likely to buy. Vibe = buy. Remember that, and that blogs make it easy for you to vibe.

If you'd like to create new targeted search engine pages for your site without needing to hand-code a new page, or fire up your HTML editor every time, you may enjoy blogging. You log in to your blog admin panel, type your thoughts, proofread, press publish.

Presto. You’re a blogger.

If you'd like free one-way links back to your site that contain your lucrative keywords, blogging helps with that too.

Even if you've made a mess of your SEO efforts, or been the unsuspecting victim of an algorithm change, as long as you aren't banned by a search engine, blogging can help bring you back into top results. Because they have a search engine friendly architecture, and can make use of your keywords automatically, without being gratuitous, they are an easy way to get into a search engine and stay in.

Reason #2 That you aren't blogging - You think it's hard and expensive.

Granted, especially if you're busy, or have a medium sized to large business, it may be in your best interest to hire one of the few consultants that works on these types of issues.

But if you're a small business owner or home business owner with an online element, you can get away with firing up a free blog and paying for an inexpensive custom template if you can't install one on your own. Most blog consultants will do all the keyword research, etc for you, so that all you'll have to do is log in and blog.

Many of the most common blog software systems are free or inexpensive, especially when weighed against the cost of only using paid methods to attract visitors.

Reason #3 That you aren't blogging - You don't think of yourself as a writer.

Not only can you get away with a few paragraphs, you don't have to write in professional-speak, or use industry jargon to blog. By nature, blogging is done in a casual, conversational tone.

And your blog posts don't have to be long article-type entries like mine are. I'm used to writing articles, and I'm just naturally verbose. My audience is used to my mini-brain dumps, just as your blog readers will likely be happy with, or adapt to, whatever your style is. Your audience will be thrilled with a few paragraphs every day, as long as they’re informative and consistent.

So take the plunge. Start blogging today. If you’re already a blogger and didn’t see the benefits the first time around, try making it a part of your routine - and have a little fun. Give it time to work for you.

You’ll be glad you did.

Copyright © 2005 Tinu AbayomiPaul

About the Author:
Tinu AbayomiPaul is a web site promotion specialist who writes about many different ways to get more visitors to your web site. If you want better search engine results, more visitors and return traffic she invites you to take a free eCourse on blogging at lauriemeade.com/free-traffic.html
Article Source: http://www.articles411.com

7 Tips to Building Your Blog's Readership

Attracting traffic to a blog or a web site is challenging enough. So from the very beginning, when you start to see visitors coming to read your blog, be sure that they feel comfortable to stick around. And there are a number of ways you can help them to do just that.

Here are seven vital ingredients for building a successful blog with a loyal following.

1. Publish Regularly.

As your readers become familiar with the frequency of your posts, it will influence their visiting behavior. If your readers know that you post fresh content every day, they will probably come every day to read it. If they know you post on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, that's when they will come.

2. Stay on Topic.

Stick to your niche. If your blog doesn't have a niche, give it one. Readers like blog's that are focused on a particular theme or topic. If you have no theme and just post about anything, then readers are less likely to become passionate about your blog and will probably move on to somewhere else.

3. Use Meaningful Titles in Posts.

This not only announces clearly what the post is about, but it will help people navigate your blog and also influence your ranking with search engines.

4. Interact With Your Readers.

Think of your blog like a conversation. You post. Readers comment. Be active and be positive as you interact and converse with your readers.

5. Highlight Your Best Posts.

Don't let your best posts get lost in your archives. It’s always a good idea to link to your best posts from a ‘best posts’ category on the main page.

6. Provide Good Navigation to Popular Pages

If you help people find the key pages within your blog, their visit will be a much more enjoyable experience.

7. Avoid Not Posting for Extended Periods.

If someone visits your blog and discovers that the last post was three weeks ago, they will probably be disappointed. If you don't post, people may give you the benefit of the doubt and come back on a few days to check, but you better believe they will lose interest quickly if you fall out of your regular schedule and stop posting.

There you have it. Seven little tips that will make a big difference to your blog's readership. It's not rocket science. It's just using some common sense when posting and interacting with your readers.

About the Author:
Mike Seddon is a writer, entrepreneur, and webmaster. He is the author of the popular e-book, ‘How to Build a Money Making Blog’, available from www.MoneyForBlogging.com
Article Source: ArticleToGo.com

How To Banish a Boring Blog

At one time or another every blogger experiences some kind of block and wonders what they should be writing about. It is just the same with business blogs. The fear of not knowing what to say on a blog is in fact one of the most common laments I hear from business bloggers.

There are many places and situations from where business bloggers can find inspiration, but it often takes practice. It will take some time but with more blogging practice you will be able to see topics and ideas fairly easily. Sometimes when uninspired, the best place to start is, believe it or not, your calendar.

There are days and months of every year that you can use for ideas. There are of course the major holidays that we all know like Mother's Day, Father's Day and New Years, and then there are plenty of other interesting events or holidays that you can use to fill your post with relevant and different blog posts. Posting about different holidays and events will create a lot of evergreen posts and that means you will gain traffic from this work year after year.

Here's an example. Did you know that February is International Expect Success Month or that the first Sunday of every August is Friendship Day? These are excellent topics with wide appeal. No matter what your market is, you can surely find something to tie these events into your business blog.

On International Expect Success Day, a school supplies store could blog about how to have a well rounded discussion with your child about the many faces of success, or ideas for teachers who want to use this day in their teachings. Any other blog owner could ask readers to share their past experiences and future goals for success.

Friendship Day, can benefit even the most unlikely blogs. For example, a handy man's business blog can talk about how some customers have become good personal friends. We know that happens a lot. It also shows your readers - potential customers and referrers, you are approachable, easy to work with and likeable. People do not hire those they do not like.

There are many more events including local, international and even some spiritual events. Find calendars you can look at online by doing a search. Another thing you could do is to make your own calendar using the information you've collected. For example, declare a customer appreciation month. No matter what, there's no doubt you won't have any problems thinking of content for the entire year to come.

About the Author:
Lynette Chandler is passionate about helping small businesses market themselves with new media and technology based tools. She's also prepared calendar for you to jumpstart your blog. Grab yours at http://www.bloggingstarterpack.com/bloggingcalendar
Added: 17 Jan 2007
Article Source: http://articles.simplysearch4it.com/article/48183.html

Writing Blog Post Titles That Work

Your blog post title (or headline) is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader. Without a post title that turns a browser into a reader, the rest of your blog may as well not even exist.

At its essence, a compelling headline must promise some kind of benefit or reward for the reader, in trade for the valuable time it takes to read more. Your headline is the first critical step to getting a link to your post.

Why? Because it’s got to be read before it can be linked!

According to some of the best copywriters of all time, you should spend half of the entire time it takes to write a piece of persuasive content on the headline. So if you have a blog post that is really important to you or your business, one that you really want people to read, you should downright obsess over your post title.

Advertising legend David Ogilvy knew the power of headlines, and how the headline literally determined whether the advertisement would get read. He rewrote this famous headline for an automobile advertisement 104 times:

“At 60 miles an hour, the only thing you hear in the new Rolls Royce is the ticking of the dashboard clock …”

Master copywriter Gene Schwartz often spent an entire week on the first 50 words of a sales piece — the headline and the opening paragraph. Those 50 words are the most important part of any persuasive writing, and writing them well takes time.

Even for the masters.

So, if you want to be an effective blogger, spend a little extra time on your post title.

About the Author:
Brian Clark is the founder of http://www.tubetorial.com which provides free video tutorials for online marketing success. He also shows you how to write headlines that work with his Magnetic Headlines series at Copyblogger.com
Copyright 2006 Brian Clark
Article Submitted On: September 09, 2006
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Writing Good Blogs

There?s a lot of blogs out there on the Web, most of which don?t entice one to go back regularly to read updates. What is missing from these on-line journals that would essentially make them ?good? blogs? Well, the answers in life usually come down to simplicities. So let?s look at the problem like we were children. Children don?t complicate life with miscellaneous information, and when they speak they tell you straight to the point exactly how they feel and think about a subject.

First of all, we should ask the questions,? Why do blogs exist? And what are they here for?? Well, in an ideal world ?good? blogs would help people connect, sharing knowledge and feelings about issues in life. As they are journals written by individuals we would hope that they?d be readable and open to comment by all other people, not just a select group of friends. The key is speaking in a way that is understandable by the masses, get rid of acronyms and local slang that only few will comprehend. Keep the sentences grammatically simple and generally short and concise.

Try to write in your blog as often as possible because if people enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas they?ll want to communicate or at least be filled in regularly on ?your world?. Ask questions, comment on other blogs of similar content, start communities with others you?ve never met, based on your interests. Keep focused; if your blog is about thoughts on war and peace, keep your thoughts on the latest movie and how hungry you are for somewhere else. The idea is to incite intelligent communication so that in time our collective stockpile of knowledge and wisdom will gradually grow like a tree in fertile soil.

I think of most importance is the fact that you want this journal to be ?good? reading. Of course we all have ideas about what genres and styles we like, but writing from your heart and soul is imperative for the connection with others that you?re looking for. Share yourself; don?t hide behind walls of fear of ridicule and judgment. In real life relationships trust, respect, intimacy, and unity are all necessary for a bond to form. It?s the same in the ?virtual? world; people want to hear from real people-not just one-sided, highly opinionated arguments from egos that don?t want to hear the ?other side of the coin?.

Now, in my last article I really tore apart most writers out there, and here I?m giving some pretty complex ideas on how to fix the problem of ?bad? writing. In my next article I?ll attempt to go back to the simple basics of how to write for beginners. I hope I haven?t come across as too judgmental, I just truly believe the ?blog world? could become a real asset to humanity, and at the moment it?s missing the mark.

Ideas about sentence structure, grammar, paragraphing, using a thesaurus (varying terms used so as not to sound repetitive), whether or not your blog is suitable for a personal or professional approach, are all important to creating a simple and enjoyable read for the blogging visitor. If you are a beginner, please check out my next article on the basics.

About the Author:
Jesse S. Somer M6.Net http://www.m6.net Jesse S. Somer is a writer hoping to help potential bloggers to write interesting and informative on-line journals. ?expert=Jesse_S._Somer
Article Source: Blogging Articles

Blogging - A Guide for Beginners

Instead of writing text, some bloggers choose to make their blogs more audio friendly by using spoken word entries, this is called audio blogging.

Basically a blog contains the following features:

Title - This allows you to label your post.
Body - This is the content of your post.
Trackback - Other sites can be linked back to your blog.
Permanent Link - Every article that you write has a URL.
Comments - This allow readers to post comments on your blog.

One of the advantages of blogging is that it is made of only a few templates, unlike other websites that are made up of numerous individual pages. This makes it easier for blog users to create new pages, because it already has a fixed setting that includes: slots for title, body of the post, category, etc.

This is especially useful for first time users, since they can start blogging right away. They can choose from a number of templates that blogging websites provide.

Anyone who wants to start a blog can do so by becoming a member of a blogging website of their choice. Once they've become members, they automatically become a part of that particular blogging community. They can browse through other bloggers pages and link them back to their own blogs. They can also make comments on other members' blogs.

Blogging is not just limited to personal usage. There are a lot of blogs that follow a theme such as: sports, politics, philosophy, social commentary, etc. These blogs espouse on their specific themes. This way blogging becomes a medium in which people can share their knowledge and opinions about a variety of themes and topics.

Some bloggers even use their blogs as a means to advertise. Some authors advertise their books on their blogs, while other bloggers use their blogs to shed light to currents issues, events, news and catastrophes.

Nowadays in education, blogs also play an important part. Professors use blogging to document the lessons that they have discussed and taught, this way students who have missed classes can easily catch up with their assignments.

A lot of entrepreneurs benefit from blogging by promoting their businesses on their blogs, with millions and millions of people logging onto the net everyday, blogging has become a lucrative move. Some bloggers who run online businesses promote their merchandise online, while others profit through advertisement.

The most popular blog type, by far, is the one that takes the form of a personal journal. This is the kind that is usually used by first time bloggers. Individuals who want to document the daily struggle of their everyday lives, poems, rants, and opinions find that blogging offers them a medium in which to express themselves.

Bloggers usually communicate within themselves. This is one of the appeals of blogging. It creates a community of people sharing their ideas, thoughts and comments with each other.

Blogs varying in topics, themes and set-ups can be found in blog directories. First time users who want to get an idea of what the blogging world is all about can browse through a number of blogs using these directories. This way they'd get an idea of what these blogging communities are like.

Blogging is popular all over the world. Blog is short for the term WebLog. There are no rules when it comes to blogging. Bloggers have the freedom to express themselves how ever way they want and the best thing about blogging is that most blogging sites are free.

There are numerous blogging websites to choose from on the net giving first time users the option to join a blogging community that appeals to their interests.

Just search any blogging directory and you'll get a listing of a lot of blogging sites that are available on the net. It's easy to search a blogging directory, because it is organized according to category. This way you can get exactly what you are after. Blogging is really for everyone, it is fun, simple and easy.

Copyright 2006 Joshua Spaulding

About the Author:
Joshua Spaulding is an Author providing everyday people the chance to profit from the internet at makemoneyonline.josh4info.com Joshua also owns and operates a Quality Article Directory where Authors may post their Articles for inclusion in Ezines and on other websites at www.articlesalley.com
Content Provider: http://www.my-articles.com

How To Generate Income From Blogging

Blogging is a relatively new term that has just begun to make its rounds through the Internet world. You may have asked yourself in the past “what is blogging and why is everyone talking about it?” And the answer is relatively simple. Blogging is nothing more than a website that is updated on a regular basis with the newest entries being displayed at the top. A blog is pretty much an online journal where anybody can go and type their thoughts for the rest of the Internet world to read.

If you like to write, and are looking for a new place to display your work, blogging may be the answer you have been searching for. There are a couple of blogging tips that you should keep in mind before starting. First off, there are many blogging sites that will allow you to have your own web page for free. These free blogging sites can be found through a simple Internet search. Of course, if you want to get more serious about your blog you can register your own domain name and compile your blog their. Another tip to keep in mind is that if you do not want to write about your personal life, blogging for business may still be right for you. There are thousands of businesses that also run blogs as a way for their customers, and prospective customers, to stay informed. Blogging for business has taken off in the small business sector over the past year, and it is surely going to reach a wider audience as word gets around.

If you had to ask yourself “what is blogging”, you probably are not aware that you can make money off of it as well. Many people start blogs as a way to make money. The best way to do this is by signing up for a Google adsense account. This has been proven as one of the best ways of making money with a blog. When you sign up for an account, Google will place targeted ads on your blog that will earn you money every time somebody visits your site and clicks on them. So, if you have a lot of traffic on your blog you will definitely be able to make some extra money.

There are plenty of blogging tips that are available by searching the Internet. It is important to read these blogging tips so that you know exactly what you are doing, and where to start. Making money with a blog is also very possible if you can garner enough traffic to your site. Even though blogging is still relatively unknown to a lot of the world, it is sure to pick up more steam over the next couple of years and become even more popular.

Copyright © David Nettey

About the Author:
David Nettey is the webmaster of http://manicures.lyecryads.com and http://culinary-arts.lyecryads.com. For an Internet Home Business that trains you and helps you succeed, visit his website, Start Your Internet Business in 24hrs
Posted: 29-07-2006
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

Setting Up Your Blog

Blogging is a lucrative source of profit and blogs are easy to set up and maintain. Imagine a life where you are paid to write on stuff that interests you, whenever you want, wherever you are. The mere flexibility of blogging makes it easy for you to just kick back, relax and go on a vacation whenever you feel like it.

In this article, we are going to look into the profitability of a blog and set up a blog of our own at no cost! Interested? Read on!

First, we need to obtain a blog. There are several options – host a blog on your own domain or get a free blog. For starters, let’s talk about the free blogs. You can obtain a free blog at www.blogger.com or the newer (and better!) www.wordpress.com. If you are a techie, you must have heard of Wordpress, a free blog engine that is robust and infinitely expandable.

Blogger.com is actually owned by Google, so it will be detected on Google’s radar faster and you will be indexed faster. Wordpress.com, however, is a relatively new option so I have no comparison on the speed of getting indexed by search engines. However, Wordpress is better in the sense that it has more advanced features such as Trackbacks and Categories. You can also manage your sidebar links more efficiently (more about this later).

Get a free blog at either Blogger.com (http://www.blogger.com/signup.g) or Wordpress (http://wordpress.com/signup/). Then, familiarize yourself by posting your first post on your blog and tinkering around with the options and templates.

Here are a few common “blog-related” words to help you out:

1)Permalink – Permalink stands for permanent link, which is a URL (uniform resource locator) that leads to an individual post that you make in your blog.
2)Trackback – When you post about someone else’s blog post elsewhere, your post will show up in their “trackback” section. This feature, however, is not available with a Blogger.com account.
3)Pinging – Blogging seems to be paired with pinging almost every time either one is mentioned nowadays. Pinging is actually the action where a certain aggregator is notified whenever your blog is updated, so that the aggregator may show the newest post of your blog on their website. This is a useful way to gaining traffic, which we shall discuss later.

For now, I shall leave you testing out your new blog and the features that come included with it. In the next articles, we shall discuss the many ways we can gain profit from a blog, as well as tips on how to write posts that keep visitors glued and keep coming back for more!

About the Author:
Milos Pesic has been marketing online since 1998. He is the owner of www.Turnkey-Club.com, the ultimate resource for digital products. Get valuable gifts just for visiting.
Article Source: ArticleToGo.com