Internet Marketing & Home-Based Business

Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category

If you are currently working as a copywriter, or if you are looking to start a career as one, I’ve got an article you need to read. It’s on Copyblogger, which is one of the net’s top sites for quick, up-to-date information on copywriting. And it’s got a nice focus on working in the information age, and using the power of the Internet.

Anyway, here’s the article. Read it:

10 Tips for Kicking Ass as a Freelance Writer

Say you’re a blogger, writing about whatever interests you. Then you hear about some people making money with their blogs. Why not you? That’s what crosses your mind, but does the thought go any further?

Can you make money with your blog? Can you create a network of blogs designed to both inform and engage the reader and pull money in your direction?

Yes.

But how? My first foray into Google AdSense netted me about $2.46 after the first 6 months. My dreams of making money were quickly dying. But then I learned a few things. I learned that there’s more to blogging that writing stuff no one cares about and throwing Google ads around it.

Real money – serious amounts of money – can be made by blogging. But you’ve got to know how to do it, and you’ve got to have the right system…a system set up from the beginning to pull prospects and money to your blogs.

The funny thing is that everyone can do this, but not a lot of people will. Do you know why? Because it takes some work. Making money with blogs isn’t a scheme, and it’s not life of luxury (well, not at first…). It’s work. But you can get paid handsomely for that work, and enjoy what you do every day.

I’ve just finished reading Blogging to the Bank by Rob Benwell. It’s pretty good. I’ve been blogging for a while now, and I still learned some stuff. If you haven’t been blogging for long, or if you’re totally new to blogging, then this book is definitely for you.

You can take the concepts in this book, apply them to your own situation, and start making some money. You might not make money right away, but you can do it. You can create a blog, or a network of blogs, that turns a profit for you.

Wouldn’t that be nice? I remember when one of my sites started turning a profit. It was small, but it was greater than the operating costs, and I loved it.

To get that sense of joy and the satisfaction of a job well done – not to mention the cash! – just go get Blogging to the Bank 3. I really don’t think you’ll regret it.

Get the book. Use it. Profit.

An email newsletter performs two vital tasks. It helps you create a relationship with your customers and prospects, and it establishes you as an expert in your chosen niche. Why is this significant? Because, in the end, it will mean more sales for you.

And that’s really what you’re after, isn’t it — increased cash flow? I’ll talk about each benefit in turn, and then relate them to increased cash flow.

Create a Relationship

A newsletter helps you create a relationship with your customers and prospects. It does this by maintaining contact with people who have asked to hear from you. But this can’t be just any contact. Your content must relate to the reader in some way, and the information needs to have inherent value. Otherwise, they are just going to unsubscribe.

With regular, informative contact, your subscribers will become fans. The reason is simple — you give them valuable information for free. When your readers come to see you as a source of good information, they will be more open to offers you present them. Instead of just “some guy” trying to sell them something, your prospects are going to see what you have to offer in a different light.

Set Yourself Up as an Expert

After you’ve been viewed as a source of reliable information for long enough, your audience will start to view you as an expert. When you become viewed as an expert, your audience will see you as one of their favorite sources for information in your niche.

I can attest to this myself. After reading two blogs for a while, I came to view the writers as experts on blogging. Now, whenever I need information about blogging in particular, I look to them for information. They are Darren Rowse of Problogger and Yaro Starak of Entrepreneur’s Journey. They are my go-to guys for blogging info.

Remember, even if you don’t see yourself as an expert, your readers might. Don’t underestimate their faith in you and what you have to say. In the end, you’ll end up becoming something of an expert anyway. That’s what happens after you write about a subject (or perform a service) for long enough.

Once you’re viewed as an expert, things will start looking up. And, as a result, your audience will want what you have to offer, and buy what you recommend. That will translate into monthly cash flow.

In my next post, I’m going to tell you how to set up an email newsletter on your site. But if you want to get started right away, sign up with Aweber. It’s the only email newsletter service I use and I love them. Sign up now and get a free 30 day trial. Go here to check them out: Aweber.

In this third and final installment of Cube Escape’s How to Blog series, I’m going to tell you about two things that are key to your blogging success: Traffic and Money.

Generating Traffic

Generating traffic to your blog is tricky, and usually slow. Very few sites get an instant hit of traffic. Unless you have a lot of money to pour into promoting your blog, you’ll have to do it the old fashioned way.

First, you need to write what is known as “pillar” or “core” content for your blog’s topic. Core content articles are posts that describe how-to do something, define something, or list out characteristics of something (the “something” is related to your blog topic). This article you’re reading now is a core article in a series of core articles. If you’re site is about knitting, you could have a “how to knit” article as some core content for your site.

Social networking is another way to get people to notice your blog. Unless you have great core content articles, the search engines won’t be enough to drive sufficient traffic to your site. You’ve got to tell others yourself. Social media is the best way to do that. Here are some sites to get you started:

Technorati – This is a huge blog site / search engine. Get an account and claim your blogs here. You may or may not get much traffic from Technorati, but it’s a great way to get started telling others about your blog.

Stumble Upon – I get a lot of traffic from people “stumbling” onto my site. What I do is stumble my site and then stumble each of my posts individually. Once I do that, those posts start to get traffic from other people with interests similar to my post. It’s really handy.

Facebook – This is just a basic social networking site, but it’s no where near as spam-oriented as MySpace. I don’t even use MySpace anymore because of the whole “spammer’s paradise” aspect of it. Facebook is clean and simple. Use it for your passive promotion efforts. When I say “passive,” I mean that you should just post what you do, and not try to shove it down everyone’s throat.

Twitter – Kind of a micro blog where you can post what you are doing in 140 characters or less. Once you get a fair amount of people following your tweets (a tweet is a Twitter post), you will start to get traffic from this service.

Tweet Burner – A separate site from Twitter, but its service posts directly to your Twitter account. Basically, this is a service where you can shrink long web addresses into short ones, then post it right to your Twitter account. Tweet Burner also tracks how many users click on your tweet web addresses. It’s a handy metrics tool.

Entry Level Blog Monetization

When you start getting some traffic to your blog, you should think about some basic monetization strategies. There is no sure thing here. But generally speaking, the more traffic you have, the more money you can make.

Start off with Google Adwords. Head over to Google and check them out. It’s easy to set up and get started. Adwords works like this: Set the size, type, and color scheme in Google, then copy and paste the generated code into your blog code (like in the sidebar or something – seek professional help if you need it), and then wait.

The funny thing about Adwords is that it doesn’t work for every site. Well, it’s simple and typically works, but sometimes there is no real money made – just a few cents here and there. This can be true even with sites that have a lot of traffic. Test it and see if it works for you.

Beyond that you can join affiliate networks, like ClickBank, and start promoting products that your readers might be interested in. You will get a percentage of each sale that you refer. This is not hard to set up, but it can be hard to make money with affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is the topic for another article entirely, so I won’t be going into the details here. Just know that you can make money by promoting other people’s products…if you do it right.

Using a Blog to Funnel Online Prospects to Your Offline Business

You might think that this last section doesn’t apply to you – if you plan on running an online-only business. Still, you should read it anyway. Good ideas sometimes come from odd places. Maybe you will see something you can implement in your online-only business.

If you already have an offline business, a blog can serve as a traffic funnel from online interest to offline sales. I’ve seen it happen before, so I know it works. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Email Marketing – Using an opt-in form on your blog, you can build an email marketing list you can use to send informational articles about your niche or industry and special promotions designed to drive sales. For example, once a month you could send special store-use coupons to your email list to generate some extra sales.
• Coupons to Print Out – Like the email coupons, you can have a section on your site to hold coupons people would print out and take to the store. Without the coupon, maybe no sale, but with the coupon…who knows? You don’t lose any money, but you might get more sales.
• Generate Interest in General – Sometimes all you need is more exposure to get more business. A blog can be a great way to do this. Tell the world about your business, special events, and such. You can also post a “Frequently Asked Questions” page where prospects can learn more about your company without tying up your customer service staff.

These are just a few ideas. Use your imagination. The Internet is still young, and blogging is even younger. Help it grow with good ideas.

In Conclusion…

Now that you’ve read all three parts of Cube Escape’s “How to Blog” series, you’re ready to tackle your own project. You’ve learned what a blog is, how to set one up, and how to promote a blog once it’s set up. What are you waiting for? Go promote yourself!

Oh, and in case you missed parts 1 and 2 of this series:

• How to Blog – Part 1
• How to Blog – Part 2

What Do You Want to Write About?

The first thing you need to decide before you set up your blog is your topic. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or unique. Your topic just needs to be something you are passionate about. Something you love.

Make your blog topic as focused as possible. For example, if you want to write about dogs, don’t make your blog topic “Dogs.” Choose your favorite breed, or maybe even your favorite dog characteristic, and make that your topic. Having more focus will force you to really tighten up your writing and bring in more readers who are interested in your particular topic.

To Domain or Not to Domain

Once you have your topic, it’s time to make a choice. Your first option is to set up a web hosting account with a web hosting service, register a domain name, install blogging software, and start writing. That’s how this blog is set up – I have a web hosting account. When I started this blog, I registered the domain name www.cube-escape.com and installed the software.

If that’s too much for you, or you don’t want to invest any money to begin blogging, there are free services. With these services, you create an account, select a theme, and go. It’s easy. Here are the two most popular free blogging services:

Blogger – This one is owned by Google, so you know it’s rock-steady. You can even sign in with your existing Google account (if you have one).

WordPress – WordPress is one of the top names in blogging. Not only does it offer a free service similar to Blogger, but it also has stand-alone software you can download and install for free on your own web server.

With both of these services, you will create an account, name your blog, select a theme, and start writing. Your domain name will end up looking something like this: iheartpugs.wordpress.com or guarddogstories.blogger.com (I just made those two up. If they are real blogs, I have no idea).

If, however, you want to register your own domain, you’ll need to set up a hosting account first. I recommend Hostgator. They have great customer service (instant online chat can really help if you get stuck installing your blog software) and an uptime guarantee. Based on my personal experiences, it’s the best web host for the money. Check them out here: Hostgator. Remember to register a domain name that is like your chosen blog topic, preferably with keywords in the domain (like iheartpugs.com or something).

I use one blogging platform for all of my domain sites, and I recommend it above all others. It’s free, it’s easy to use, highly customizable, and easy to install. WordPress is the way to go. There are other software packages out there that have blog-type features, like Drupal or Joomla, but if you want a blog, go with WordPress. Download WordPress here. I’m not going to go into the technical aspects of setting up a hosting account and blogging software right now, because that is another topic entirely. Fortunately, it’s all easy, and there are instructions both at WordPress, and, most likely, in your web host’s help files.

Another option is TypePad. It’s not free, so this won’t appeal to everyone. This is a paid service that is aimed more at small businesses (and big ones, too, I guess). I don’t use it, since there are really good and really free options out there, but you should still take a look to see if it is something you might want. Check it out here: TypePad.

What Are You Waiting For?

Don’t wait. Get started right now. Becoming a good blogger isn’t about reading all the blogs you can to really get a handle on how it’s done. Instead, learn blogging by blogging. This is especially true if you ever hope to monetize your blog. You have got to learn how to create a good blog with interesting content that people will want to read.

Pick out something you love, get a blog started, and start writing!

The third and final installment of this “How to Blog” series will be about traffic generation and entry-level blog monetization.

If you missed part 1 of this 3 part series, check it out here: How to Blog Part 1.

A blog is an automated system for easily getting content on the web. So easy, in fact, that anyone who can run word processing software can run a blog.

The Technical Specifics

A blog, or “weblog,” is an online journal with posts displayed with the most recent one first. All of the posts are categorized and displayed in reverse chronological order.

Blogs are run by blogging software, which is installed on a web server. Many web hosts have blog software you can install with a hosting package, or you can hire someone to install it for you. Another option is to join a blogging service and have everything done for you. Don’t let this technical stuff bog you down, because you’ll get the specifics later.

Why Are Blogs Great?

1. Ease of use
2. You can let the world in on what you want to say
3. Search engines love them
4. More importantly… readers love them

If you’ve got something to say, a blog is the perfect platform for you to start saying it. Not only will your friends and family have a place to read your writing, but so will the rest of the world. In addition to attracting readers, you can also establish yourself as an expert in something.

Say your blog is about knitting, as opposed to just being a diary of your inner most thoughts. Then let’s say that you are really good at knitting and write blog posts about how you became good at it. Throw in some how-to posts, some pictures, and you’ve got a site that says to the world, “I know knitting.”

Once you do that, you have some monetization potential.

Now that you know generally what a blog is (Hint: you’re reading one right now), you’ll want to learn how to set one up. That’s part two of this three part series.

Stay tuned for the next installment: How to set up your blog.