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While blogging has been around for a while, we’d like to show you new techniques
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- Get more eyes on your e-mail newsletters
- Start a blog and use it wisely to generate leads
- Leverage Twitter to give your blog a super-boost and generate more clicks
- Promote your business, website or event on Twitter
- Connect with others and gain followers on Twitter
- Convert Twitter and blog followers to sales
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7. What is Blogging? A blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
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11. Getting Started A basic precept of any business is just as essential with your blog. It's critical to pinpoint your audience and, in the process, decide what you're going to say that will make them read what you write. Identify your audience.
12. Getting Started Next up is determining where to locate your blog. There are numerous software packages that let you add a blog section to an existing Web site. A more automated and perhaps easier option is a blog hosting site (with a link from your Web site bringing visitors over). Decide where your blog should live www.WordPress.com is a great site to set-up your blog.
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14. Getting Started Search engine hits are another element of generating traffic. One strategy to attract search engine interest is through careful use of keywords in both your headlines and blog copy. Emphasize keywords
15. Getting Started Study your website, content and target and list an effective set of keywords that are “Relevant” to your objective. This how people would search for your target! Emphasize keywords
16. Getting Started Nothing is more discouraging to prospective readers than returning to a blog site to find old or outdated material. So, be prepared to work at keeping your blog as fresh and current as possible. Have a system – empower the team! Keep it fresh
17. Getting Started Monitor the amount and quality of the traffic you receive. If things seem slow or stagnant, don't be afraid to vary your themes or subjects to boost interest. But don't stray too far from your business or expertise. Watch your traffic closely
18. Writing Content Ultimately defining what is ‘good content’ is a subjective exercise (perhaps in a similar way to defining what is a ‘good book’ or a ‘good movie’) and so a post is likely to cause a little debate as each person will define it differently depending upon their personality, their needs, the topic that they are talking about and perhaps even their ethics. Not only will bloggers themselves each have a different view on what is ‘good’ content - but readers tend to also.
19. Writing Content For a blog to be successful your content needs to be useful and unique to your readers. Start with the customer or prospect - find out what they want and give it to them. Be Unique and Useful Perhaps the best advice on developing useful content is to research your readership (or potential readership).
20. Writing Content They Are Hungry for Knowledge Writing for your target DOES NOT mean writing about the products and services you sell them Write about the things they want to learn about
22. Writing Content Be the Thought Leader Should establish as a thought leader When starting put time into your plan and posts This will reflect your reputation
23. Writing Content Survey customers, look a lot at other blogs on a topic (especially the comments section to see what types of questions people are asking) and particularly look hard in forums and discussion groups on topics where there is usually a lot of question asking going on. As you do this you’ll begin to put your finger on what people are wanting and what you might be able to provide to meet these needs. Researching
26. Writing Content A great way to see what other blogs are talking about in your industry is to subscribe to them using and RSS reader. There are many RSS reader tools available from Google Reader to Feed Demon. RSS Readers will update you when there is new content on a blog. Subscribe to other blog feeds via RSS
27. Writing Content Do some analysis on what sort of content other bloggers in your industry are producing. In most niches you’ll find that sites are all presenting very similar information in pretty much the same voice, tone and style. You can either replicate what they are doing and try to do it better OR you can distinguish yourself in someway from what others are doing. Distinguish yourself
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29. Blogging with WordPress Categories and Tags Categories and tags are ultimately the same thing. They are used to organize your posts. Tags can be used for identifying keywords in your posts, while categories are specific to topics on posts.
38. Getting Found Through The Web A “Share Button” allows visitors to share your information on multiple networks and through email Use a Share Button on Each Post http://www.addtoany.com/buttons/for/wordpress_com
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1. Invite Comments - I notice that when I specifically invite comments that people leave them in higher numbers than when I don’t. To some degree this confuses me as most of my readers know that they can leave comments on any post - but I guess inviting a comment triggers a response to some extent. Also keep in mind that new readers that are unfamiliar with blogging don’t always know about comments or how to use them - invitations to participate in well laid out and easy to use comments systems are good for helping them participate. 2. Ask Questions - Including specific questions in posts definitely helps get higher numbers of comments. I find that when I include questions in my headings that it is a particularly effective way of getting a response from readers as you set a question in their mind from the first moments of your post. 3. Be Open Ended - If you say everything there is to say on a topic you’re less likely to get others adding their opinions because you’ll have covered what they might have added. While you don’t want to purposely leave too many things unsaid there is an art to writing open ended posts that leaves room for your readers to be experts also. 4. Interact with comments left - If you’re not willing to use your own comments section why would your readers? If someone leaves a comment interact with them. This gets harder as your blog grows but it’s particularly important in the early days of your blog as it shows your readers that their comments are valued, it creates a culture of interactivity and gives the impression to other readers that your comments section is an active place that you as the blogger value. As the activity in your comments section grows you may find you need to be slightly less active in it as readers will start to take over on answering questions and creating community - however don’t completely ignore your comment threads. 6. Be humble - I find that readers respond very well to posts that show your own weaknesses, failings and the gaps in your own knowledge rather than those posts where you come across as knowing everything there is to know on a topic. People are attracted to humility and are more likely to respond to it than a post written in a tone of someone who might harshly respond to their comments. 7. Be gracious - Related to humility is grace. There are times where you as the blogger will get something wrong in your posts. It might be spelling or grammar, it could be the crux of your argument or some other aspect of your blogging. When a someone leaves a comment that shows your failing it’s very easy to respond harshly in a defensive manner. We’ve all seen the flaming that can ensue. While it’s not easy - a graceful approach to comments where you admit where you are wrong and others is right can bring out the lurkers and make them feel a little safer in leaving comments. 9. ‘Reward’ Comments - There are many ways of acknowledging and ‘rewarding’ good comments that range from simply including a ‘good comment’ remark through to highlighting them in other posts that you write. Drawing attention to your readers who use comments well affirms them but also draws attention of other readers to good use of your comments section. 10. Make it Easy to Comment - I leave a lot of comments on a lot of blogs each week - but there is one situation where I rarely leave a comment - even if the post deserves it - blogs that require me to login before making a comment. Maybe I’m lazy (actually there’s no maybe about it) or maybe there’s something inside me that worries about giving out my personal details - but when I see a comments section that requires registration I almost always (95% or more of the time) leave the blog without leaving the comment that I want to make. While I totally understand the temptation to require registration for comments (combating spam in most cases) something inside me resists participating in such comments sections. Registration is a hurdle you put in front of your readers that some will be willing to leap but that others will balk at (the same is often said about other comments section requirements that go beyond the basics). Keep your comments section as simple and as easy to use as possible.
One cardinal snafu that can bring down even the best intentioned of blogs is stale content. Nothing is more discouraging to prospective readers than returning to a blog site to find old or outdated material. So, be prepared to work at keeping your blog as fresh and current as possible. That doesn't necessarily mean regular entries as lengthy as a Michener novel — indeed, many engaging blogs are built of short, concise messages. But make a commitment to update your blog on as regular basis as your schedule reasonably permits. “You need to develop what I describe as a ruthless persistence toward posting, particularly if you disseminate the blog's address, and customers or suppliers come to depend on the information," says Rich Hanley, director of graduate programs in the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. "People view blogs as daily information vehicles, not once in a while musings on a stray issue. Think of blogs as a conversation, and that will help with the daily focus."
Don't make the mistake of feeling locked into your blog's initial topic. Monitor the amount and quality of the traffic you receive. If things seem slow or stagnant, don't be gun-shy about varying your themes or subjects to boost interest. But don't stray too far from your business or expertise. Also, advises Falkow, "Investigate how effective the [publishing] platform you choose to blog in is. I have tried several that did nothing for my search visibility."
This might mean tackling a slightly different topic ( perhaps a sub-niche ) but could also mean writing in a distinct voice It might also mean writing in a different genre of posts (ie if everyone else is writing ‘newsy’ posts you might like to write more ‘opinion’ type posts). Bring together the elements of both Useful and Unique content and you will be one step closer to a successful blog.
This might mean tackling a slightly different topic ( perhaps a sub-niche ) but could also mean writing in a distinct voice It might also mean writing in a different genre of posts (ie if everyone else is writing ‘newsy’ posts you might like to write more ‘opinion’ type posts). Bring together the elements of both Useful and Unique content and you will be one step closer to a successful blog.