I put off starting a blog for a long time because I thought it would be hard. I thought it would be technical. I thought I'd have to install scripts and tear my hair out getting them to work. At that point, most of what I'd read about blogs and RSS was just so much geek-speak.
Was I ever wrong!
When I finally got the courage to give it a go, I went to blogger.com and signed up for an account. To my amazement, I had a blog set up in about 5 minutes. My first post was uploaded to my site about 10 minutes later.
The only thing even remotely technical I was required to do was enter the FTP settings for the website my blog would be published on. But even that wasn't a requirement. With Blogger, you can set up a blog on their site, Blogspot, and not even worry about FTP settings.
Since then, I've started 3 Blogger blogs on different sites. Blogger remains one of the most popular blog applications in the world simply because it is so simple to use and set up. If you're a technophobe or don't have the time to learn something completely new, I would urge you to drop by Blogger.com and take a look. You could be blogging - and enjoying the benefits - almost immediately.
Another very simple blogging tool is Wordpress. This blog is my first Wordpress blog, and I'm very impressed with how powerful it is - as well as simple.
Wordpress is installed on your own website, but don't let that stop you. Most hosts that have Cpanel already have Wordpress ready for you to install. Look in your Cpanel for the Fantastico application, click it open, and then choose Wordpress to install. It will automatically install it on your site for you, and you can start blogging right away.
If your host doesn't already include Wordpress in the scripts on your server, you can still pick it up at:
http://wordpress.org/
Then go to the Wordpress Wiki for instructions on how to install it in 5 minutes:
http://wiki.wordpress.org/?pagename=5MinuteInstallation
Wordpress is free, open-source software. It is very simple to install, even for technophobes, and has a lot of online documentation. There are also many sites with free Wordpress add-ons and templates. I'm using a template for this blog that I picked up at Alex King's site:
http://www.alexking.org/index.php?content=software/wordpress/styles.php
The Wordpress Wiki is a wealth of information on all things Wordpress, including installation instructions, help files, a long list of template sites, and all kinds of hacks and extras you can use to modify your blog and make it original.
If you're a Wordpress user, another place to visit is the Wordpress discussion forum:
http://wordpress.org/support/
If you're a new blogger, both Wordpress and Blogger are very user friendly. There isn't a long learning curve. And you won't have to learn any new technical tricks. Why not give one of them a try?
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Blogging for Profits - Finding the Gold hidden inside your Blog
"How are you going to profit from your blog?" asked my cousin. I could tell him almost 33 different ways! "Do you blog?"
It was my cousin asking this question. Of course I did. My weblogging started in November 2001.
But I was an 'off-and-on' blogger. To me, a blog was like a bad tooth. Y'know, you can't help seeking it out with your tongue. But when you find it, "Ouch!"
My blog was like that. Each time I set out to make a success of it. And after a week or two, backed down, beaten.
Until I discovered the secret that helped me crack the code! Now I enjoy blogging - because I know how to do it right.
"What's your business model?" I asked my cousin.
He stared at me blankly. I tried again.
"How are you going to profit from your blog?"
He looked at me as if I was mad.
"What do you mean 'profit'? Blogs aren't profitable!" he exclaimed.
I smiled quietly. Of course, that's what everyone says - including the 'gurus' of online marketing.
But I knew better.
"Yesterday, my blogging earned me $170" I said.
His look said it all. "Liar"
"I'm not kidding" I continued. "I can show you THIRTY ways to profit from blogs."
"Name three" he countered.
"Well, you could ask your blog community to make a donation every now and then."
"Hmm... that's a thought. But why will they give me money?"
I explained how he could make his blog valuable to visitors, involve them in his agenda, so that they'll be happy to participate in his ventures and support them.
"You could use a direct selling model to earn money. By including a powerful sales letter for your product or service, specifically focused on the benefits a buyer will get from it. Add a way to order - and hey, presto. You're set to make a tidy profit from your blog."
He was now listening carefully, nodding his head in agreement.
"Or you could get paid for displaying ads targeted to your visitor's interests."
I was on fire now. Explaining the steps he needed to take to create value on his blog. Telling him how to make it appear valuable to users. Showing him exactly how to leverage his experience at blogging into money in the bank.
When we finally finished a couple of hours later, we made a list. I had suggested exactly THIRTY THREE ways to profit from a blog. My cousin was ecstatic.
"You simply MUST tell others about this."
A book about profiting from blogs - now that was a *cool* idea.
I spent some time looking for other books or resources teaching profitable blogging. Zilch. No one else was telling people about these powerful secrets!
That's when I read blog expert, David Winer's post:
"Another problem with books about blogs (blooks?) is that as I read them I want to comment, more than any other kind of book. Well, how do you do that? Will these books be on the Web? Will they have paragraph-level permalinks?"
Flashbulbs exploded in my mind.
Why not a book on blogs that's *ITSELF* a...
BLOG ?!
The result is my blogBook, "Blog Profit Ideas Exposed - 33 Quick Tips Blog Publishers Can Profit From" http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/blogbook/
It's the first of its kind, and presents the content of a 'book' in the form of a 'blog'.
Now YOU can annotate or remark on any of these ideas or tips. Share YOUR experiences or reservations about them. Post any modifications or tweaks YOU feel will make them more effective.
blogBooks make books uniquely reader-friendly in a very personal way. What will emerge? The resulting 'composite' blogBook, annotated with reader comments, will be far more enriching and valuable than my own writing.
PLUS - I can keep adding to the blogBook as and when I find, hear about or use a new Blog Profit Idea! This blogBook will be a living thing that grows and morphs over time...
A personal publishing form of online journalism, the 'blog' has become a medium to share anything you may care to. Today it has also become a publishing format for electronic books. Only time will tell if it's here to stay. Until then, keep blogging - profitably!
Top 10 Places to Find the Most Popular Blogs
The easiest way to get acquainted with the conventions of the blog format is to start reading them. The more blogs you read, the more you'll get a feel for the depth and breadth of style and subject matter they have to offer.
Here are a few sources:
Blog Monitors
- Blogdex (http://blogdex.com/)
- Daypop (http://daypop.com/)
- Technorati (http://technorati.com/)
These three sites monitor millions of blogs every minute of every day, searching for the top key words being mentioned in blog posts or in the most popular links and sites. It's like being in a huge convention hall eavesdropping on billions of conversations at the same time. This is a fantastic way to do market research and to see what everybody is buzzing about. The collective 'hive' of blogs is often called the blogosphere. Often, links and news bubble up in the blogosphere first, even before they reach your evening television news program.
Blog Search Engines and Directories
- Blogarama (http://blogarama.com/)
- Globe of Blogs (http://globeofblogs.com/)
- The Open Directory (http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Weblogs/)
Just like web sites, there are also directories and search engines devoted to cataloging the ever-growing global network of blogs. Try searching by topic or geographic location.
Search Engines
- Google (http://google.com/)
- Yahoo! (http://yahoo.com/)
- A9 (http://a9.com/)
As usual, Google and friends to the rescue! These are the more traditional and widely known search engines. Type in some topic and the word 'blogs' and see what results come up. The more specific keywords, the more likely you are to find bloggers talking about what you're interested in.
Blogrolls
And number ten is the blogroll. Most blogs have a blogroll, which is a list of a blogger's favorite blogs and websites. If you find a blog you like, try checking out the other sites that the blogger likes. You might find other valuable sites and blogs to read. The more your read blogs, the more you'll catch the nuances and conventions that have made them the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to publish online.
Here are a few sources:
Blog Monitors
- Blogdex (http://blogdex.com/)
- Daypop (http://daypop.com/)
- Technorati (http://technorati.com/)
These three sites monitor millions of blogs every minute of every day, searching for the top key words being mentioned in blog posts or in the most popular links and sites. It's like being in a huge convention hall eavesdropping on billions of conversations at the same time. This is a fantastic way to do market research and to see what everybody is buzzing about. The collective 'hive' of blogs is often called the blogosphere. Often, links and news bubble up in the blogosphere first, even before they reach your evening television news program.
Blog Search Engines and Directories
- Blogarama (http://blogarama.com/)
- Globe of Blogs (http://globeofblogs.com/)
- The Open Directory (http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Weblogs/)
Just like web sites, there are also directories and search engines devoted to cataloging the ever-growing global network of blogs. Try searching by topic or geographic location.
Search Engines
- Google (http://google.com/)
- Yahoo! (http://yahoo.com/)
- A9 (http://a9.com/)
As usual, Google and friends to the rescue! These are the more traditional and widely known search engines. Type in some topic and the word 'blogs' and see what results come up. The more specific keywords, the more likely you are to find bloggers talking about what you're interested in.
Blogrolls
And number ten is the blogroll. Most blogs have a blogroll, which is a list of a blogger's favorite blogs and websites. If you find a blog you like, try checking out the other sites that the blogger likes. You might find other valuable sites and blogs to read. The more your read blogs, the more you'll catch the nuances and conventions that have made them the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to publish online.
The Huge Marketing Potential Of A Simple Blog
A Blog (also known as Weblog) is traditionally a webpage where pre-surfer or a blogger "logs" all pages he/she finds interesting. In other words, it is a Web page that contains brief, chronologically arranged items of information. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.
Weblogs provide a series of annotated links to items such as news stories, and often include personal rants. They are maintained by one person, most commonly someone who is involved in Web design or some other tech-related field.
A blog is often a mixture of what is happening on a particular website and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people. Blogs can be used to introduce products to potential customers.
People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably Blogger at blogger.com. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process.
Blog as a marketing tool:
Blogs offer huge marketing potential. They are highly strategic tools that can strengthen relationships, share knowledge, increase collaboration, and improve branding. Besides, blogs can represent the real voice of the website.
A weblog can take the form of a diary, a news service (or summaries of and links to current news items on a topic), a collection of links to other Web sites, a series of book reviews or products, reports of activity on a project, the journal of an expedition, and much more. Businesses can use this tool to effectively advertise their products or services.
One of the most interesting ways to use a weblog is by allowing it to function as a discussion forum for customers of your products or services. In this case, the webmaster can give posting rights to other people - visitors and customers, and their posts may or may not be reviewed before they are published to the Web page. Customers, in such a way can post favorable comments about the websites offerings. Some weblogs are set up in such a way that only the owner or the owner and certain other people have posting rights, but anyone else can add comments to the posts.
Weblogs when used with newsletters present immense marketing opportunities:
- Articles within newsletters can be linked to a blog, extending life and creating a massive conversation.
- You can offer a bidirectional forum to customers to get true, personal opinions on your products and services.
- Company experts can start a blog and become industry experts, helping your company edge out competition and, through this interactive forum, draw customers into another exchange of information and thoughts.
- The beauty of this interplay is you can layer your blog with editorial controls.
How to create a Weblog?
The majority of weblogs are now created using software or services designed specifically for this purpose. Some of the software is free - and some of the organizations that provide weblog software will also provide free server space to house a weblog so that it is publicly accessible on the Internet.
There are also commercial versions of some of the free software; these commercial versions often provide more features. Some weblog software is available only as commercial software. Alternatively, bloggers can create and maintain their weblog using free software or a free weblog service, but use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to load the resulting weblog to their own Website.
There are many blogging softwares available easily on the Internet. One of the most popular weblogger is "Blogger" which can be used for free at http://www.blogger.com. Most webloggers simplify the process of Website creation. However, they do require basic knowledge of FTP, Website structures and a few technical terms. Besides, creating an advanced weblog requires knowledge of HTML.
Weblogs provide a series of annotated links to items such as news stories, and often include personal rants. They are maintained by one person, most commonly someone who is involved in Web design or some other tech-related field.
A blog is often a mixture of what is happening on a particular website and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people. Blogs can be used to introduce products to potential customers.
People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably Blogger at blogger.com. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process.
Blog as a marketing tool:
Blogs offer huge marketing potential. They are highly strategic tools that can strengthen relationships, share knowledge, increase collaboration, and improve branding. Besides, blogs can represent the real voice of the website.
A weblog can take the form of a diary, a news service (or summaries of and links to current news items on a topic), a collection of links to other Web sites, a series of book reviews or products, reports of activity on a project, the journal of an expedition, and much more. Businesses can use this tool to effectively advertise their products or services.
One of the most interesting ways to use a weblog is by allowing it to function as a discussion forum for customers of your products or services. In this case, the webmaster can give posting rights to other people - visitors and customers, and their posts may or may not be reviewed before they are published to the Web page. Customers, in such a way can post favorable comments about the websites offerings. Some weblogs are set up in such a way that only the owner or the owner and certain other people have posting rights, but anyone else can add comments to the posts.
Weblogs when used with newsletters present immense marketing opportunities:
- Articles within newsletters can be linked to a blog, extending life and creating a massive conversation.
- You can offer a bidirectional forum to customers to get true, personal opinions on your products and services.
- Company experts can start a blog and become industry experts, helping your company edge out competition and, through this interactive forum, draw customers into another exchange of information and thoughts.
- The beauty of this interplay is you can layer your blog with editorial controls.
How to create a Weblog?
The majority of weblogs are now created using software or services designed specifically for this purpose. Some of the software is free - and some of the organizations that provide weblog software will also provide free server space to house a weblog so that it is publicly accessible on the Internet.
There are also commercial versions of some of the free software; these commercial versions often provide more features. Some weblog software is available only as commercial software. Alternatively, bloggers can create and maintain their weblog using free software or a free weblog service, but use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to load the resulting weblog to their own Website.
There are many blogging softwares available easily on the Internet. One of the most popular weblogger is "Blogger" which can be used for free at http://www.blogger.com. Most webloggers simplify the process of Website creation. However, they do require basic knowledge of FTP, Website structures and a few technical terms. Besides, creating an advanced weblog requires knowledge of HTML.
Making Money With Your Blog
I've sure you've heard before that it's a possibility to make money with your blog and you may be wondering how this is possible. And were they really meant for making money or just for journaling your personal thoughts? I'm not sure what they were intended for but they are great ways to make money.
I have a personal blog which is just my own private little place to go online and jot down my thoughts, but I also have my business blogs.
Back In The Beginning
Now to be honest with you in the beginning of my blogging experience I really wasn't sure what I should do with my blog. I knew I wanted to make money with it, but I didn't know how. I didn't know what I could do to not only be a value to others so they would come back to my blog, but that I would still enjoy writing it.
So it was really important to me that I find a topic in which I would be excited about, and have enough to offer so that I could blog every week or so. After starting a blog that was meant to just be an add on to my business at MommysPlace.net and struggling with the direction of that blog, I came across one of Alice Seba's blogs. Which she used to write about her experience through a traffic product.
Every couple of weeks or so she would update her progress through this course. She would tell us all about her successes with this product and how great it was for her business. And it made me think of how I could do something similar.
Product/Service Focused Blog
This is when the light bulb moment went off in my head. This is when I realized what I should have been doing all along. I have been a member of a exclusive coaching program for mothers in business.
Since joining this program my business has seen great success. My income has increased more then five times what it was before I joined and my traffic has increased even more then that.
I enjoy and believe in this coaching program and it happens to have an affiliate program. I often got email from other work at home mothers who wanted to know my thoughts on this program.
I have a personal blog which is just my own private little place to go online and jot down my thoughts, but I also have my business blogs.
Back In The Beginning
Now to be honest with you in the beginning of my blogging experience I really wasn't sure what I should do with my blog. I knew I wanted to make money with it, but I didn't know how. I didn't know what I could do to not only be a value to others so they would come back to my blog, but that I would still enjoy writing it.
So it was really important to me that I find a topic in which I would be excited about, and have enough to offer so that I could blog every week or so. After starting a blog that was meant to just be an add on to my business at MommysPlace.net and struggling with the direction of that blog, I came across one of Alice Seba's blogs. Which she used to write about her experience through a traffic product.
Every couple of weeks or so she would update her progress through this course. She would tell us all about her successes with this product and how great it was for her business. And it made me think of how I could do something similar.
Product/Service Focused Blog
This is when the light bulb moment went off in my head. This is when I realized what I should have been doing all along. I have been a member of a exclusive coaching program for mothers in business.
Since joining this program my business has seen great success. My income has increased more then five times what it was before I joined and my traffic has increased even more then that.
I enjoy and believe in this coaching program and it happens to have an affiliate program. I often got email from other work at home mothers who wanted to know my thoughts on this program.
Blogging can run your entire web site
Blogging is a term that means different things to different people. To some people it means keeping an online journal. To others blogging is about creating a community of people who can contribute to a growing discussion on a specific topic. To me, however, blogging is about creating and running an entire web site. That's because blogging can actually be used as a complete content management system for almost any web site.
There are several reasons why you should consider using blog pages to run your entire web site. These include:
* You can make changes to your web site content without the need for specialist software
* You can make changes to your content from anywhere you can access the web; you don't need to be at your PC.
* You can make changes to content quickly - more quickly than with software.
* You can make changes to content without incurring cost - unlike using a web design agency.
* You can use blogs to create content with colleagues, working as a team - something that's more difficult and more costly with software.
All of these benefits can be obtained free of charge using Blogger.com to run your pages. To use Blogger.com as a content management system, take the following steps:
1. Create a web page template for your entire site.
2. Include Blogger.com 'tags' for each blog entry within your template. The key tags you will need are: <$BlogItemTitle$> and <$BlogItemBody$>. These tags will insert the title and the text for each item you enter into your blog.
3. Set up each page of your web site as a separate blog using the 'advanced' settings.
4. For each blog, use your template code as the template within Blogger.com
5. Post a single entry into each blog, which is the main content for your page.
6. Publish your blog! That's it!
In the future, you will be able to change the content or add to it, simply by logging onto Blogger.com, choosing the appropriate blog (or page of your web site) and then editing the post item.
People are beginning to realize the potential for content management using blogs. You no longer have to see blogs in terms of a single page that is added to your web site. Instead, you can view blogging as the way you run your web site.
There are several reasons why you should consider using blog pages to run your entire web site. These include:
* You can make changes to your web site content without the need for specialist software
* You can make changes to your content from anywhere you can access the web; you don't need to be at your PC.
* You can make changes to content quickly - more quickly than with software.
* You can make changes to content without incurring cost - unlike using a web design agency.
* You can use blogs to create content with colleagues, working as a team - something that's more difficult and more costly with software.
All of these benefits can be obtained free of charge using Blogger.com to run your pages. To use Blogger.com as a content management system, take the following steps:
1. Create a web page template for your entire site.
2. Include Blogger.com 'tags' for each blog entry within your template. The key tags you will need are: <$BlogItemTitle$> and <$BlogItemBody$>. These tags will insert the title and the text for each item you enter into your blog.
3. Set up each page of your web site as a separate blog using the 'advanced' settings.
4. For each blog, use your template code as the template within Blogger.com
5. Post a single entry into each blog, which is the main content for your page.
6. Publish your blog! That's it!
In the future, you will be able to change the content or add to it, simply by logging onto Blogger.com, choosing the appropriate blog (or page of your web site) and then editing the post item.
People are beginning to realize the potential for content management using blogs. You no longer have to see blogs in terms of a single page that is added to your web site. Instead, you can view blogging as the way you run your web site.
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