10 Ideas for Brainstorming Blog Content
It can be a tough trying to come up with dynamic blog posts that readers will find interesting and useful. Here are a few brainstorming ideas that may help you develop dynamic content that will add variety and personality to your blog while also inviting visitors to be interactive.
1. Post Other People’s Articles
You can find many interesting articles written by other authors and they are a great resource for generating blog content. I will say that posting your own articles is ideal but in a pinch posting articles from other writers can add variety, particularly if it’s an article from an author with a creative writing style. Of course posting other people’s articles requires including their resource box with a link to the author’s website. If this concerns you here’s a suggestion.
Post articles that are useful to your readers but not in direct competition. For example, a website about dating might post an article from a ‘money tips’ website that lists ways to save money on a date. The article is useful to your dating readers but may not necessarily draw them to the money tips website as your reader is focused more on dating.
If you are posting articles from other authors be sure to preface the article with an introduction paragraph on why you like the article and why your viewers should read it.
Then follow the article with a personal comment and invite your viewers to offer their opinions and ideas as well.
2. Attend Webinars, Workshops or Live Seminars
Not everyone has the time or the cash to attend live Seminars or workshops, but if you do, they are well worth it when it comes to learning strategies and getting ideas for content. In fact I’ll guarantee your head will be swimming with ideas and useful information when it’s over.
Of course live seminars are more an occasional event, unlike online webinars that you can attend every day if you like and they are typically free, simply sign up and listen.
Even if the webinars you attend lean more towards a marketing pitch, it’s still an easy way to get unique ideas on what people are looking, this in turn will spark ideas on what you can write or comment about on your blog.
3. Read Industry Publications
What’s going on in your specific industry? Is there anything interesting happening? Bookmark 2 or 3 industry related websites and visit them often. Note what’s going on and the highlights. There won’t be exciting news every day but there may be enough interesting things to post a few times a month.
Follow your posts with your own personal comments or opinion and invite your readers to do the same.
4. Offer Personal tips and ideas
What are your favorite personal tips, strategies or ideas that your readers may be interested in? Personal tips are often unique and interesting; they’re not the usual things people read about everywhere.
Tips could include things that have helped you get something done easier or faster.They could be simple tricks you’ve discovered or they could be about products you use and the unique ways you use them. The key here is to offer unique ideas by suggesting only ideas and tips that you have personally developed.
5. Frequent Popular Topic Related Forums
Forums contain content from members who are typically candid with their comments and questions. This is a genuine place for you to find out what information people are looking for. Look for a common interest that people often ask about or need information on. This will most likely be a hot topic for you to discuss or write about on your blog.
6. Post Fun & Interesting Videos
People are reading less and watching videos more. Adding a video to your post can add personality to your blog. If you’re not camera shy try making your own videos that demonstrate your personal tips and strategies or simply talk about a topic of interest.
If you’re not ready for the big screen YouTube is an excellent resource for finding fun and interesting videos from others. Videos can be informative, funny or unusual. I like to break up the monotony with an occasional funny video. I’ve noticed that readers will comment more when I post a video that is entertaining and fun.
7. Create an Audio Pod Cast
Just like video, audio is a popular way to deliver information. So why not record a conversation that your readers can benefit and learn from? For example, you could interview an expert in your field or record an informative conversation you’ve have with another business colleague. Just as with video, audio gives your viewers a glimpse into your personality and adds creativity and fun to your blog.
8. Check your Site Stats
Your hosting service should provide statistics about the visitors to your site or blog. Use this information to determine what keywords your visitors used to find your blog. These keywords make excellent blog content ideas for generating articles, videos, podcasts or commentary posts.
9. Use Google Alerts
Create ‘Google Alerts’ for your best industry related key phrases. This is an automated alert notification whereby Google will send you an email daily, weekly or monthly, with the web pages, articles, press releases, blog posts, etc. related to your key phrases. It’s an ideal source of current information to spark interesting and useful ideas on a consistent basis.
10. Read Blog Comments
Reading other blogs is always a great suggestion for blog content ideas but don’t forget to read the comments too. This is where good stuff gets posted. People bring up interesting ideas and unusual tips in the comments section. I often find that the comments can be more interesting that the actual post and is a great resource for unique tips.
There are lots of ways to brainstorm blog content and hopefully this will get you started. However, avoid overwhelming yourself and take breaks once in awhile. This clears your mind and opens it to fresh ideas. It also helps eliminate the stress of information overload.
About the Author Elizabeth McGee
Elizabeth McGee, internet home business owner, mentor and marketing enthusiast, brings you practical internet business ideas, useful marketing strategies and genuine personal support. Pick up her free no-hype newsletter Today!
Five Ideas For Using Auto-Responders In Your Direct Sales Business
February 25, 2009 by admin
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by Audrey Okaneko
Are you currently using an auto-responder in your direct sales business? I think auto-responders are one of the best tools of the business. I’d like to share five ideas for using an auto-responder in your business:
1. When you receive a business lead, immediately get their permission to put them on an informative email list. I’ve seen people drip information to leads for a full year. The information you share can be a mix between company specific information and industry specific information. Find a balance so that your emails are not sales pitches but rather informative documents that could actually apply to most businesses. One example of this is how to use company catalogs. My email speaks of how often my company puts out catalogs but the remainder of the information can be used by anyone offering catalogs to potential customers.
2. Do you write articles? Store all of your articles on your auto-responder. Make a master list of the titles of each of the articles. When someone asks a question, let them know how they can get the article you’ve written that answers their question. At the bottom of each email, let the reader know how they can get a list of every article you’ve written. Once they get the master list, then they can request any and all articles they might want.
3. Write emails on every product your company makes. When you sponsor a new distributor, provide them with a master list of all of the emails you have on each of the products. Write these emails not only for the distributor but for their customers as well. This could help your team member in making the sale.
4. Not every customer buys the first time they meet you or the first time they are introduced to your product line. Create a newsletter that would be of interest to a potential customer. The key here is to keep your name in front of the potential customer on a regular basis until they say yes to your products. If you sell kitchen related products, offer a recipe newsletter. If you sell children’s toys or books, create a parenting newsletter. This keeps potential customers on your list for months or even years.
5. Write mini-courses that relate to your field. For example, if you sell children’s products write a few mini courses about parenting infants, parenting toddlers, parenting teens and even about grand-parenting. If you sell kitchen products, write a few mini-courses on how to use a crock-pot, how to choose fresh fruits and vegetables and how to buy organic. This again brings in those people who are interested in the type of product you are selling.
These are just five ideas on how to use an auto-responder to build your direct sales business. Be creative and see if you can find even more uses for the email system and then watch your business grow.
Audrey Okaneko has been in direct sales since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or you can Become a Tupperware Consultant
Facebook in 15 Minutes a Day
February 24, 2009 by admin
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by Donna Gunter
I’ve often said that social networking can take up your entire day, if you allow it. You sit down at your desk in the morning, and you see several Facebook event invites and friend requests. As you log into your account, someone’s Facebook status update catches your eye, and before you know it, 3 hours have passed while you’re reading and responding to social networking messages. How can you possibly get any work done in your business or for your clients at this rate?
Facebook doesn’t have to be a time hog. As a matter of fact, you can actually handle most of your Facebook tasks in as little as 15 minutes per day. Here’s what I do when I log into my account each morning (thanks for wonderful training I’ve received from Facebook guru Mari Smith for these great tips):
1. Update your status. This is the first section that you’ll see on your homepage when you log into Facebook. While you can do this from your Facebook account, I prefer to update my status in Ping.fm, as this service will update my status in all of my social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and MySpace. However, if you’re using only Facebook for social networking, then go ahead and use the status update there.
2. Review your news feeds. This is the first tab on the right on your home page. In this review, you’re seeking stories on which you can share your expertise and on which you can comment. Some of your comments may be personal in nature, but this is a great opportunity to showcase your experience in your field and industry.
3. Review news feeds of your friends. This feature is available from the home page as the down arrow on the far right of the home page tabs and permits you to view the feeds of your Friends Lists. Friend Lists allow you to create private groupings of friends based on your personal preferences. I’ve got my lists created by industry, i.e. Coaches, Virtual Assistants, Marketing Professionals, People to Watch, etc. Pick one list and comment on those feeds just as you would your own.
If you have no Friends Lists, here’s how to create them: , Click Friends at the top of any Facebook page. From the following page, click “Make a new list” on the left. After typing in the title of your list, you can add friends to your list by typing your friend’s name into the “Add to List” field. You can also click “Select Multiple Friends” to the right of the field, which will allow you to select many friends from your entire list. After making your selections, click “Save List” to store your changes.
4. Review status updates. Take a quick moment to breeze through the status updates of your friends, and click on those on which you feel compelled to comment. Many people feed their blog posts into their status updates, so this is a great way to get out and comment on the blogs of others without having to search out relevant blog posts. In this case, I comment on the blog itself rather than the Facebook status update. I usually only go through one page of these to ensure I remain within my time constraints.
5. Acknowledge birthdays. These are listed under Events and Birthdays on the right side of your homepage. When you click on the birthday person’s name, you’ll be sent to their wall, where you can write your personalized birthday greeting (make more effort that just simply saying “Happy Birthday!”). I also take this opportunity to find out a bit more about the friends on my list by clicking the “Info” tab on their home page and quickly scanning their profile. This helps me start to put names and faces together and get better acquainted with my network of friends, And, I take this opportunity to add people to Friends List as appropriate.
6. Review friend requests. Add friends as you see fit, or according to any guidelines you have set for yourself. Facebook guru Mari Smith suggests setting up a “Friending Request Policy” in which you write down the conditions under which you’ll accept friends (i.e. picture must be on profile, have to have other friends in common, have to have submitted a personal note with the friend request, etc.) and to help you in your decision-making.
7. Respond to event invitations. Your friends will be sending a myriad of invites to various events (most of my invites are to teleclasses), so take a few moments to scroll through those and see if any are of interest to you, or if you have further questions about them.
8. Respond to group invitations. Most of these I ignore, but occasionally I’ll join a private group, usually related to a program in which I’m enrolled. Or, if it’s a group run by someone with whom I want to connect or from whom I want to learn, I’ll accept the invite to the group. If I have time, I’ll also visit one of the groups to see what’s going on and respond to any messages here.
9. Add friends. Facebook does an amazing job of suggesting people I actually know to add to my friends list in their “People You May Know” section on my home page. If I happen to see such a suggestion, I send out a request to add that person as a friend. When requesting to add a friend, I ALWAYS send a personalize request, letting them know how I know about them.
10. Review notifications. The notifications icon is on the lower right side of your home page and lists what’s going on in your account (friend requests accepted, notes on your wall, etc.). This is a good prompt for you to write on someone’s wall when they accept your friend request or to respond to posts on your own wall.
11. Eyeball your own profile. Make sure your profile appears as it should, and take the opportunity to catch up on anything you may have missed with your other steps.
12. Check your inbox. Many of the emails in your inbox are duplications of event and group invites or group emails. When I look at this, I’m seeking out any personal 1:1 emails that I might have received from someone on my list. I’ve discovered that many people I want to contact respond better to their Facebook emails that through emails sent to them (or an assistant) via their website, so I often email them through Facebook, instead.
If you devote 15 minutes per day, or at least 15 minutes 3 times a week, to updating Facebook, you’ll begin to see results from your social networking before you know it
Online Business Manager and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com. Follow Donna on Twitter.
5 Tips to Build Your Direct Sales Business
February 20, 2009 by admin
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by Audrey Okaneko
Quite often I’m asked if there is a “secret” to building a direct sales business. The answer is both yes and no. I say no because there is really no one secret. I say yes, because there are many things you can do on a regular basis to build your business. I’d like to share five things you can do that will help you in building your business.
1. Learn about the company and the products. When you speak to others about what you are selling or joining your team, you’ll sound much more professional if you know about the company and about the product line.
2. Take an interest in self-development. Direct sales is a relationship business. We improve our relationship skills when we begin working on self-development. I attend seminars, take classes and read books all devoted to helping me become a better person. Even those who teach the classes I attend will share that they continually take classes to learn more themselves.
3. Make a one year commitment to your business. It takes time to find customers, build a team and develop a base for your business. While I always hear and read the words “businesses aren’t built overnight”, the reality is many people don’t really believe these few words apply to them. Commit to one year in business. After one year you’ll have enough experience and knowledge to make a new decision if a new decision is necessary.
4. Set an example for your team. As you build a team, your team members will look to you for guidance, support and training. If your team sees you market on a regular basis, they too will market. If your team sees you attend trainings and other company functions, they too will realize the value in these events. If you communicate regularly with your team, they in turn will learn to communicate with their teams.
5. Return phone calls and emails just as quickly as possible. Understand that not every communication will result in a sale or new team member, however each communication will aid you in building your own brand and your own reputation. If you get a complaint, take care of it immediately. If you get a product question, get an answer just as quickly as you can. You want your reputation to be one of a person who responds in a timely manner.
As you can see, there is no magic answer on how to build your business. The answer is to take steps daily to build your business and to build your name and reputation.
Audrey Okaneko has been in direct sales since 1983. She can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or you can Become a Tupperware Consultant
10 Ways To Increase The Comments On Your Blog
by Lynette Chandler
Does your blog look lonely because you rarely (if ever) get people commenting on it? Want more comments? Try out a few or all of these ten easy ways to get more comments.
1. Just ask. If you don’t ask, you don’t get it. It’s really that easy. The worst that could happen is people don’t leave comments so you’re aren’t worse off just by asking. When you do ask, chances are people will respond.
2. Get help. Tell your readers you need help deciding for example, help picking out a new hairstyle, color for your home office, new computer, help with a new logo design. You get the idea.
3. Give them a chance to self promote. You can get people to comment by adding any relevant sites that they know of for a resource list you tell them you’re building.
4. Ask them to complete an action. For example, you say you’re writing a report about seven most common gardening problems but you’ve found only four. Tell them to come up with the other three and the ones chosen to be included in your report will get credit on your report.
5. If you blog about your experience on products or services you have used, then encourage your reader to do the same (even if it’s an affiliate product). Allow both positive and negative reviews though so that you become an unbiased blog to visit when someone is looking for reviews.
6. Offer comments subscription. People are used to forums. Whether they contribute to a discussion or not, they like to get notified when someone else has something to say about a post. Make it easy for them to follow the conversation by offering a way to subscribe to comments both by email and RSS.
7. Tap into your network, customers or your list. Tell people about your posts and encourage them to visit and let you know what they think about the it or if they have further thoughts to add. You could also ask customers to blog about you and trackback to your blog.
8. Ask your readers to let you know what they think about the freebie by posting to your blog.
9. Slow down. Maybe you’re posting too often that your readers just can’t keep up with your posts let alone stop to comment.
10. Extend a discussion. Blog about something you read on another blog, news, magazine or other media then invite readers to share their thoughts. This usually works very well for hot topics of the day, week or month.
Now that you know ten easy ways to get comments, try a few today. Don’t forget, sometimes you may not see results in the first few days or weeks but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Keep asking questions and provoking responses and you’ll have a busy blog after all.
Affectionately nicknamed Tech Diva by her peers, Lynette Chandler regularly dispenses blogging and RSS help to countless business owners. Visit www.BloggingStarterPack.com to learn more about blogging and get a copy of her video free.
Blogging Bootcamp to Maximize the
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Excuse Me Did You Leave Money on the Table? Networking Events
February 18, 2009 by admin
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by Jaynine Howard
Have you recently attended a networking event and left money on the table? I’m not talking about the money you left on the table as a tip for the waiter or waitress. I’m talking about your failure to have a system on what you were going to do with all those business cards you collected at the networking event.
When you attend a networking event your intention or goal is to leave with two fists full of business cards. Guess what, that is why everyone else is there too. If you do not have a system in place to follow up with the people you met then what was the purpose of going to the event? Networking effectively and efficiently requires a system. Using my tips below will guarantee that you do not leave money on the table after your next networking event.
1. Immediate action. When you get home from the networking event immediately sit down and look at the business cards you collected and put a face to the card. Try and remember what intrigued you about that person. Jot down notes about the conversation you had and any pain points you can remember. Pain points are the issues that are causing that person grief and you can relieve or know another person that can relieve the pain.
2. Next day action: The day after the networking event you should send a handwritten note or an email to each person you met at the networking event. Do not send one mass chain or spam email. Take time to begin to establish rapport with the person. Mention in your email things that you discussed with that person. Show the person you actually remember who they were. Invite the person to stay in contact with you. Do not try and sell something to the person in this first email exchange. Immediately add the person to your email data base and your newsletter data base. Add the business card to your rolodex. Do not let the business card get lost.
3. Be selective. After your initial introduction email you will want to seriously think about the people you met that you would really like to have as a client and why or who you met that you liked and would like to add to your circle of friends. Now is the time to email an article you have written or an email link that they can use to alleviate one of their pain points. Again this is not the time to sell them something; you are still cultivating the relationship. It is ok not to want to network with someone you met. You need to be true to your values and ethical standards.
4. Cultivate the relationship. Networking and gathering new client leads can follow the same stages of a dating relationship. You would not propose to a person on a first or second date so don’t try and sell someone something on the first or second time of meeting them. Take time to cultivate a true relationship. Periodically, send an email just to say hello and let the person know that you are thinking of them and wishing them success.
5. Use your manners: When you receive an email from someone be sure you take time to acknowledge the email. Do not ignore anyone that contacts you. This is very rude and people do not do business with rude business owners. People do business with those they like, know, and trust.
I recently attended a networking event where I collected over 21 business cards and brochures. Only one person contacted me. The rest of the people either assumed I didn’t care about makeup, flooring, clean air, office supplies, marketing my business, and advertising on the radio or they had no follow up system in place on what to do with all the business cards they had collected. They left money on the table.
You must have a system in place so you know what you are going to do with all the business cards you have collected at your networking event. Implementing my five steps above into your system will guarantee that you do not get caught leaving money on the table after your next networking event.
Coach Jaynine ensures small business owners and determined individuals turn their Dreams into Reality. She coaches small business owners on the necessary systems and strategies that are needed to turn their business into an asset instead of a liability through the use of assessments, self empowerment, and client specific action steps via the telephone and internet. Her clients increase their productivity and earning power while living life on their terms. Experience what Coaching can do for you by downloading your complimentary Productivity Tracker at http://www.dreamcatcher-lifecoaching.com
How to Become a Good Networker (Even If You Don’t Like Networking!)
February 10, 2009 by admin
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by Katrina Sawa
For many entrepreneurs networking is a must to build your contact list the fastest way possible. After all, networking is one of the least expensive, most effective forms of marketing that you can do!
Besides if you have no customers yet and nothing to do – you have to do something! Networking is also the best way to build relationships; no other form of marketing or advertising can do this for you. People buy from people they like and connect with.
I’ve been self employed for five years and I’m still networking; I’m just more selective now on where and who I network with. When I first started out I joined four local chambers, a women’s organization and a leads group and I was at every event all the time.
As my business started picking up, I reduced the number of groups I was involved in and remained in only those that were the best fit for me and that brought me the most clients. I was extremely active in those that I stayed in so that I would be well known; basically I became the Go-to-Gal for my industry and associations.
This is what you want. You want for others to see you as the expert in your field. The key is though to be selfless, generous and knowledgeable in the process.
These days I’m networking even online through various social networking sites like Myspace, business networking sites like LinkedIn and FastPitch and other membership sites that I belong to too but this all takes time and finesse as well.
Rarely do I see very many really good networkers though so I urge you to learn more, practice your skills, focus on giving to others and really work at becoming the best networker you can because it will pay off with more customers and bigger profits.
Here are a few habits that a good networker typically exudes; they will:
Go with a goal
Be prepared, mentally and with materials
Arrive early and stay late
Work the room
Master their ‘commercials’ and alter them as needed
Introduce others around
Pass people off nicely and move on
Ask questions of the other person
Know to listen more than they talk
Take notes on cards
Quickly and repeatedly follow up
So, how to you match up? What are you doing?
One thing I want to remind you of is that no matter which ones you are doing if you are NOT doing the very last one listed – the FOLLOW UP – then I can tell you right now that you are absolutely wasting your time (and money) doing the networking in the first place!!
I can’t stress to you enough that if you find yourself not being able to get your follow up done – then figure out someone to delegate this to. It’s worth whatever it costs to pay someone to do this for you because it could mean the difference between one sale and fourteen sales!
Furthermore, if you want help developing your networking plan, I would suggest signing up for my JumpStart Your Marketing 1 Hour Business Brainstorm Session! You can find out what those entail and how they will benefit you on the products page of my website at www.JumpStartYourMarketing.com!
Katrina Sawa is known as The JumpStart Your Biz Coach because she literally kicks her clients and their businesses into high gear. She works with highly motivated women entrepreneurs that want to maximize and fast-track their business to make more money and enjoy more free time. Katrina uses online and offline Relationship Marketing Systems & Strategies to leverage your resources, contacts and your expertise; plus she kicks you in the butt to implement it all too! Get her Free Tips, Free Audio & Free Report online at http://www.JumpStartYourMarketing.com!
5 Ways To Save Work Blogging
by Lynette Chandler
1.Create a Team Blog. Gather up people who’s business or blog topic matches your own and set it up so that everyone has accessto post. You can have anywhere from 2-5 people (or more!) on your team blog. By blogging as a team you will gain more visitor and traffic because: You are combining the traffic of multiple contributors and you will have more content for the search engines to pick up
2.Hire a team of bloggers. Newspapers have contributors, blogs can too. If you’ve ever used writers to do articles and content for you , they can do the same type of thing with a blog. Many of the most successful blogs are already doing this. The combination of group promotion effort, regular updates and pinging can help bring
in traffic quickly. One thing to note here is blogs are a somewhat social tool. Some very popular niche blogs are not all that visible in the search engines, yet they get a lot of traffic because people recommend them and they become a sort of buzz hub. Search engines do not always pick up on this but they do eventually. This is why group blogging can be very powerful because you’re leveraging the power of not one (your) influence group but several people’s influence group. If you do pay your bloggers, you can always offset this cost by displaying Adsense ads. Many popular
blogs earn a good amount in Adsense, that they make a nice profit even after paying their bloggers team. After a while it becomes a passive income stream.
3.Recycle Content. By taking previously published articles, interviews or even audio and breaking it up into blog sized pieces you can recycle old content and make it new again! You can break up long pieces into a bunch of segments and have a series going for, say, a week or so. Then you won’t have to worry about coming up with new content for a week!
4.Include audio. For some of us, it’s much easier to speak than to write. So, mix up your blog. Carry a small portable MP3 recorder or blog by phone. What a way for moms who are running around all day , busing the kids where they need to go , doing errands , and whatever else needs to be done. Maybe you’re stuck in traffic, or waiting for the kids to get out piano class or school. An idea or thought strikes and you think “Oh I need to share that on my blog” so, pick up your phone (assuming you have a cell phone – and many of us do), dial a number, say what’s on your mind, save it and you’re done. Your blog is published. If you’re using Blogger, you can do this for free through AudioBlog. It involves calling a long distance number, but most cell phone plans don’t charge extra for long distance anyway so you’re not incurring any extra cost.
If you’re using another blog publishing tool like WordPress, Movable Type or TypePad, then you’ll need a service like AudioBlogger.com. This one is a paid service but it’s only $4.95 a month and it gives you more options like a nice flash player, statistics and even video that make it worth while.
5.Automate Your Blog. Want to save time? A great thing about using WordPress as a publishing tool is having the ability to forward blog entries to a later date. When you’ve got more than one post that you’d like to make this makes it much easier. You just set a time and date for your entry to be posted and that’s it, your post will appear on schedule.
Let’s face it. There will be times we have a ton to say and times we have little or nothing to share. Instead of having multiple entries one day and nothing over the next few days, by using forward entry you can blog everyday of the week. Or rather you blog once and the blog publishing tool does the job automatically the rest of
the week. You can even forward blog for weeks and months ahead of time.
Note: Blogger users unfortunately cannot do this because Blogger publishes all entries regardless what you date it immediately.
Affectionately nicknamed Tech Diva by her peers, Lynette Chandler regularly dispenses blogging and RSS help to countless business owners. Visit www.BloggingStarterPack.com to learn more about blogging and get a copy of her video free.
Blogging Bootcamp to Maximize the
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Easy, Auto-Pilot Ways to Promote Your Blog
by Michelle Shaeffer
Put your blog promotion on auto-pilot with these “set it once then forget it” promotional strategies.
Submit Your Blog to Blog Directories
Once you’ve requested a listing, you’re done!
blogcatalog.com
bloghub.com
blogarama.com
blogexplosion.com
blogflux.com
blog-search.com
blogbunch.com
iblogbusiness.com
quickblogdirectory.com
bloglisting.net
blogrankings.com
weblogalot.com
Ping When You Post
If you’re using WordPress, it’s probably already set to ping rpc.pingomatic.com Add that to your ping list if it’s not there already. Ping-O-Matic will receive your ping then let lots of other sites know you’ve updated your blog.
If you can’t ping directly from your blog, try Feedburner’s Pingshot service.
Offer Your Readers an RSS Subscribe
Techno-savvy readers love RSS feeds they can subscribe to.
Your blog may have this built it just waiting for you to link to. You can also sign up with Feedburner or Feedblitz.
Be sure to add the code to your blog once you’re setup so readers can subscribe.
Add Social Bookmarking and “Tell a Friend” to Your Posts
Sociable and Share This are two great plugins you can use to easily add social bookmarking and “tell a friend” capability to your blog.
Just download, install, setup, and then the plugin of your choice will add the social networking icons to every post on your blog.
Connect to Social Networking
Using social media you can syndicate your blog content to reach your social networks.
If you Twitter, you can tweet your blog posts with TwitterFeed.
If you’re on Facebook, try the WordPress Facebook App.
These five strategies take a few minutes to setup but once you’ve got them up and running they’ll promote your blog for you. Strategies 2 – 5 will promote your blog every time you post!
Work at home mom extraordinaire Michelle Shaeffer publishes The Muses Brainstorm, a weekly ezine with tips to help you balance, manage, and market your home based business. If you’re ready for inspirational guidance and bright ideas sign up free at www.thesmallbusinessmuse.com
Blogging Bootcamp to Maximize the
Profitability of Your Business Blog
Hooking Up on the Internet
February 3, 2009 by admin
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by Alice Seba
No, I’m not talking about THAT kind of hooking up…this is a business article, for goodness sakes! I’m talking about building mutually beneficial relationships with other online business owners. That’s the kind of hooking up that will propel your business to long-term success.
Many people get online and think that the more people they meet online, the bigger customer base they can get. To some degree that is true, but in this marketing mama’s humble opinion, it’s not where you should focus your efforts.
Nearly, four years ago, I started my online business. I was just a mom who desperately didn’t want to return to work after maternity leave. I had NO CLUE what I was doing. None at all, but one thing I did do is meet people, but I didn’t try to make these people my customers.
What, you may ask? Didn’t I want to get any customers?
Sure I did, but I realized something much more valuable. The other online business owners that I met online weren’t necessarily my target market and they had something much more valuable to offer me than a few dollars in my pocket from an Internet sale. They had knowledge, experience and ideas…and I had my own to share too. So, this is what I did…
I made friends and now I run a 6-figure per year business.
Yup, good old-fashioned friends with a common interest in online business. I share my experience and knowledge and they shared theirs. We discovered where we could collaborate on projects and build lifetime partnerships together. In other words, I gained a lifetime of value from these friends…not just another “Notification of Payment Received” email from PayPal.
Through these relationships, I have found:
- A number of partners on numerous profitable projects that we continue to produce and promote.
- Marketing advice from:
- A copywriter who has written million-dollar sales copy for numerous clients
- A guy who works from Florida and makes millions yearly from his online business ventures; and a bunch more. These are people that have made VITAL differences to the future of my online business.
- Someone who has orchestrated 6 and 7-figure product launches for his friends and clients.
- And a bunch of others too numerous to mention, but I am so grateful for every day of my life.
- Indispensable and trustworthy assistants that keep me inline when my mind wanders or I just can’t get all the little things done in my business.
…and a whole bunch more. It doesn’t really matter, what I gained. It’s time to ask yourself what you want to gain…and if you’re in it for the long haul. If you decide you are indeed in it for the long haul, it’s time to start building those relationships.
How to Attract The Right People to Your Network
If you are already networking online, through message boards or other means, you’re already on the way. Here’s some tips on how to make the right kind of friends through your network.
- Scrutinize your networking list. If you belong to a bunch of email groups and even more message boards, it’s time to start cutting out the fat. Your time is valuable, so choose just a few quality groups and boards where people are serious about online business. Forget about the ones where people are out to get rich quick or where you simply post for “Ad Mondays”.
- Don’t be too eager. Don’t start out by telling the world, you want to “partner” on a project or anything like that. Take it slow, get to know people and give your input where you can. I emphasize the “where you can” because if you don’t have any experience on a subject, just keep quiet. But don’t worry, if you feel you really don’t have a lot of experience, you can still be a valuable community member by giving support and encouragement to your fellow online business owners. The experience will come with time.
- Share your experiences. Expanding on the previous point, do share on the subjects in which you have some experience. The more freely you share your information, the more willing people will be to share with you. We all have our own experience and expertise. We can cut our learning curves tremendously by learning from others.
- Make personal connections. If you have something you’d like to discuss privately with a member, contact them. It may be to discuss a particular idea you have for their business or you may want to interview them for your newsletter. When you do make these connections, always keep in mind what value it has for your networking partner. If you have nothing of value to offer them, save your personal contact for later.
- View your competitors as partners. There’s nothing worse than the sometimes catty world of online business where people see competitors as the enemy. The Internet marketplace is so vast, there truly is room for everybody. People who reach the same target market are your potential partners for products, free ebooks, co-promotion and more. Don’t limit yourself.
Bottom Line is…
Stop thinking about yourself. Think about how you can help other people and it truly comes back to you.
Alice Seba is a solo online entrepreneur who has increased her profits and reduced her working hours by working with virtual assistants. For more Internet marketing tips to help you earn more while working less, sign up for her Internet Marketing Prescriptions mailing list at www.AliceSeba.com
