Marketing and getting traffic is what it’s all about with your blog. Find out how Jessica Knows is handling marketing with her 15 day challenge. Here’s what she had to say:
The number one question I get asked by other bloggers and entrepreneurs is,
?How do you get so much coverage of your projects and your brand??
I?ll tell you. I stopped looking at all those public relations people as the enemy. Sure, some of them have not a clue about approaching me, or anyone for that matter, the right way, but I?ve made it a point to make PR people my friend. And you should too. My theory is I?d rather be pitched to and say no than to not be pitched to at all. In a way, a lot of what I do to promote my own brand is PR so I appreciate what these professionals are doing.
Read it all here
Search engine optimization is an ellusive art. Almost no one on the planet actually knows how Google ranks sites. “Experts” are able to test, observe, and read whatever hints Google gives, and offer to the rest of the world some tips and advice for climbing the search ladder. Even though authority is more important than SEO, that doesn’t mean that search engine optimization isn’t important – it’s just a close second to authority.
Below are links to 20 sites, mostly well-known, that I listen to for advice about optimizing for search…
Obviously this is not an extensive list, as there are hundreds of thousands of blogs and sites out there related to search engine optimization. In an upcoming post, I’m going to talk about some of the basic rules of SEO that I’ve gathered after tweaking dozens of web sites into higher rankings, but here are some reminders…
- Title things well, both the article and the page’s <title> tag.
- Use appropriate keywords, but don’t overdo it – write as you normally would.
- Offer relevant links with good anchor text.
- Use one <h1> tag per page, and only one, and think the content of it through – it’s highly important.
- Think like a searcher. If you were searching for you, how do you think you’d want to find you?
- Share the web with others and links to your site will naturally build over time.
- Don’t rush it.
- Avoid duplicate content at all cost.
- Just create good content consistently – Google will find you!
Seth Godin is an expert marketer who manages to stay well above the get-rich-quick marketing mantra. He’s kind of an artist and just recent wrote a post called “Maybe you can’t make money doing what you love.” His premise is that sometimes, when you try to monetize your passions, you lose them and your gift is cheapened.
In the realm of blogging, this is essentially true as well. Not every blog should be monetized. I operate a blog about web design, but I don’t offer any advertising since the ads wouldn’t fit with my design and would probably point potential clients to my competitors. I also operate a blog about my life as a Pastor. I monetize it only in that I recommend some books off of Amazon and have a few affiliate links, but I’m careful and selective.
One of the problems with Adsense, and other ad networks, is control. You’re often limited on sizing, design, and advertiser selection. Affiliate programs usually offer a bit more control, but you still have to be careful about how an ad distracts from your creative genius. What kinds of blogs shouldn’t be monetized?
1. Some personal blogs. If you blog for family, do you really want to hit them up with ads or affiliate banners? The ads will basically distract from the unique personality of the blog.
2. Religious blogs, with some exceptions, shouldn’t be monetized much. Why? Because your greater purpose should probably be to speak to skeptics, who will see your monetization as an offense.
3. Corporate blogs, again with some exceptions, probably aren’t the best place for advertisign because the blog itself is the ad for your business.
Donations sometimes serve as a decent alternative, but almost nobody really donates, so it may be an ineffective use of begging. If you have time, I’d suggest operating multiple blogs so that you can monetize one or two, but not all four or five.
One last factor to consider is that you should always be giving away content. I give away free WordPress themes. You might give away an ebook or free advice. Just remember always that it’s “more blessed to give than to receive.”
photo credit: Caveman 92223
So you want to start blogging? But you’re not sure what it is or how to begin? There are a ton of great blogging tips sites out there (this one included), but most of the articles are intended for people who are already set up and running. If you’re a newbie, where do you begin?
I started blogging years ago as a means of communicating what was going on in my life with family and friends. Now I also write articles for other sites in addition to several blogs that I run myself. This article is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to blogging, but rather to offer some lessons that I’ve learned over the years (the hard way sometimes). And let me point out, it would take much more than this article to get you online – I hope to spur you on a wild and frantic Google search for more information, provide you some links, and hint around at some tools.
Catch A Vision
What are you going to blog about? There are quite a few different kinds of blogs…
- Personal Blogging – for sharing your life with the world.
- Corporate Blogging – for sharing information within or about your company.
- Product Blogging – for sharing news about newly released products.
- Political Blogging – for sharing political viewpoints.
and on and on. You get the picture. Each different kind of blog requires a different style and approach, and a different blog design. Decide your topic and stick to it. The blog you’re reading is about blogging. There are a lot of subtopics, but it all revolves around the central idea of blogging. So pick a topic and stick close to it and search engines will love you for it.
Further, catch a vision for who you want your audience to be. The whole world? Techies? Parents? Health nuts? etc. Your audience should determine what kind of content you offer on your blog. This phase of blog development happens on a legal pad or a moleskin, not the web.
Pick a Platform
There are free blog sites, paid platforms at an affordable rate, or you can go the self-hosted route. If you’re planning on monetizing your blog with advertising or affiliate marketing, I’d highly recommend having your own domain name and a self-hosted blog, but if you’re just wanting to speak to your loved ones on screen, go with a free hosted service like Blogger. A few of the most popular hosted services include WordPress.com (we’ll get to the self-hosted WordPress issue in a second), TypePad, Expression Engine, and Moveable Type.
For most blogs, I recommend going the route of a self-hosted blog with your own domain. How do you accomplish this the easy way?
- Register a domain name – reserve it for at least 2 years.
- Purchase a shared hosting plan.
- Install your platform (more on my favorite in a second).
- Upload your theme and any necessary plugins.
- Start writing!
Obviously that’s abbreviated, but you can find a ton of resources to help on this site and others to get you through the details.
My own favorite self-hosted blogging platform is WordPress. I would not argue that it’s better than everything else. There are pros and cons to various systems. You can read more about that here. But WordPress does happen to be the most popular blogging software and one of the easiest systems to use. If your hosting plan comes with cPanel and Fantastico (most Linux hosting plans offer them), then you can click through a few screens, enter some information, and the blogging software installs itself. Then you’re ready to log in and begin. There are a multiude of free themes available that are easy to install.
What To Write, What To Write…
How do you find inspiration for writing? Surf. Read. Google. Watch the news. Create a post a day to rise to the top of many blog search engines, but it’s certainly not a requirement. The best content is original, personal, helpful, and practical. It’s also easy to read. Long paragraphs belong in an encyclopedia, blogs are more like short bursts or bulleted lists. Video and pictures help, links are great, and mentioning other bloggers is cool too.
How To Monetize Your Blog
Again, this is too broad a topic to cover here in any detail, so I’m just going to mention a few things that you can do to earn some capital, if for no other reason than to pay for hosting, software, and design.
Other Essential Blogging Tips
- Leave comments on other blogs, read comments on yours, and reply – it’s called comment luv!
- Subscribe to the feeds of blogs and use them as a resource for inspiration and conversation.
- Promote offline and not just online – tell people you’re out there.
- Network through FaceBook, Twitter, and other networking platforms.
- Don’t create duplicate content, so don’t post large amounts of identical text in more than one place and always be respectful of copyrights and licenses.
- Optimize your site by writing good titles, using good keywords (but don’t overdo it), and linking to relevant resources.
- Do it for fun. If money comes, that’s fine, but keep it fun.
There again, this is not intended to take you from start to finish, but rather to provoke your thoughts at the outset. Maybe this article will spur you onward in your quest for self-expression. If so, why not begin by leaving a comment?
photo credit: kwerfeldein
I thouhgt this was a pretty cool list to put together – well-known marketers from all walks of life and from different fields. Makes for a pretty cool springboard into surfing some great marketing sites…
? Lo’s TOP 50 COOLEST Marketers | Red Hot Blog.
Okay, you’d think having a domain would be a kind of no-brainer tip for applying to an ad network, but apparently not. John Chow, one of the world’s most successful bloggers, has put together a nice little post about applying to an ad network. And he should know!
How To Apply To An Ad Network | John Chow dot Com.
The current mortgage crisis probably shouldn’t affect online and tech businesses as much as it has since so many run on cash or near-zero-debt bugets. Nonetheless, online businesses are hurting right now too. Cory Miller, a successful entrepreneur just released five pretty basic but often overlooked ways of using your web site to earn money during an economic crisis…
5 Ways to Use Your Business Website through Economic Downturns | Cory Miller | Entrepreneurship, Marketing and WordPress.
photo credit: Derek Farr ( DetroitDerek )
