Discover The Power Of Blogging

The dark circles under his eyes are evidence that he has been pecking away at the keyboard again. Night after night he sits, mesmerized by the computer screen surfing forum after forum filling the blank spaces with his comments and opinions about senseless issues, political debates, religious matters, business strategies and shopping options. All the while his marriage is deteriorating, his children are growing up and away, his business is wavering on the brink of bankruptcy, spiritual matters are being neglected, all to which he is oblivious.

One day he happens upon an internet forum about blogging. "What in the world is blogging?" he wonders.

Suddenly he becomes enthralled with a new mission. He has to get to the bottom of this. With all the time he has spent on the internet communicating with people throughout the world, he has never heard of blogging. He wants to learn everything there is to know about it...

Blogging is a relatively new phenomenon that is truly undefined due to the fact that it is not yet what it will become. Currently weblogs teeter on the edges of interactive journalism vs. personal archiving and information sharing. Different bloggers have varying purposes and goals. Some aim to record their thoughts, some to share resources and information and some to tell stories. Blogging has also been used as a tool for educating readers and for providing customer service and communications as well as serving as a tool for self-expression.

With Google's introduction of the AdSense content-targeted advertising program, you can even generate some revenue from your blog as you get paid per click for Google Ads accessed from your blog. Don't create a blog on the premise that you're going to get rich from advertising payments or you may be sorely disappointed. Rather, view the ad program as an added bonus for the time spent filling your blog with useful content, or as getting paid a little for doing something you enjoy.

The best way to get started blogging is just to jump in and get your feet wet. Decide what you want to accomplish through your blog. Is it a tool for getting things off your chest? Sharing your thoughts and feelings? Providing information? Tracking events?

Reading through various blogs will provide you with some ideas for your blogs purpose and for developing your writing style.

Find a blogging medium that you are comfortable with. There are some options out there for free blogs and there are some paid services that are very reasonable, some for commercial and some for non-commercial use.

Probably the quickest and easiest way to start your own blog is to use a hosted service like Blogger - http://www.blogger.com.. Getting started with Blogger is a three step process that you can take care of right now. You simply create an account, name your blog and choose a template and you'll be ready to get started making blog entries. Once you get comfortable with the basic process of blogging, be sure to visit the "Help" section of the Blogger website to learn more about advanced uses and blogging options.

Copyright 2005 Jason Tarasi

Jason Tarasi publishes the reciprocal links newsletter "Elite Links" Learn HOW thousands of other Elite Links members generate FREE traffic and increase their search engine rankings by swapping links. Grab your free lifetime subscription now at: http://www.freeclassifiedlinks.com

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Do You Want to Know Why Blogging is so Popular?

If you haven't heard of blogging, you are probably living under a rock. There are many reasons why blogging is so popular these days, but the biggest reason is probably that blogging is so simple, and so accessible to everyone. Everybody wants to be heard - no matter who they are or what they think. We all have thoughts and opinions - and we are finally able to express those thoughts and opinions!

In the past, only people who understood the in's and out's of creating a website were able to get their thoughts, opinions, feelings, or interests in print. Now, anyone with access to a computer with an Internet connection can be set up and blogging in five minutes flat. If you don't have a computer in your home, you can visit your public library and blog. You can visit your friend's house and blog. You can go to an Internet café and blog. Students even blog from their computer classes during school hours! Everybody can blog, and that is why blogging is so popular today.

Blogging does not require a website. A domain name is not required. You do not need to know how to set up a webpage. All you need to know is how to type - and if you can even do that with two fingers - 'search and peck style' - you can blog. It really is that simple. If you want to set up a blog, just visit a site like Blogger at http://www.blogger.com and set up a free account. It takes less than five minutes.

The wide variety of uses of a blog is another reason why blogging is so popular. If you want to keep a personal journal, you can do so with a blog. If you want to set up a way to keep family members in touch, a blog provides the answer. If you need to keep employees up-to-date on projects or company news, again a blog can provide you with a very simple, very fast way to do it. Visit Blogger and surf around and take a look at the things that people blog about! Every topic that you can imagine is there!

Blogging has become what newsgroups used to be - only instead of being accessible only through a newsreader or email blogs are accessible with any web browser, on any computer system that has an Internet connection - no membership required, and no fees to pay - unless you choose a blogging service that is fee based.

People who were unknown and unheard yesterday have a huge following today. People are interested in other people's thoughts and opinions - and even in the day-to-day events in their lives. As a global society, blogs offer us yet another method for sharing and exchanging information - no matter what the topic is.

Individuals have even learned to make money with their blogs. You can sell ad space if your blog is popular. You can also sign up with some of the blog advertising networks to find advertisers. Google AdSense is a popular way to profit from blogs. Another option is to promote affiliate products and services that are related to the content of your blogs. Some people have even figured out how to earn a living with their blogs! Is it any wonder why blogging is so popular?

Jason frequently gives tips like this to the subscribers to his newsletter. Visit Adventures In Internet Marketing [http://www.AdventuresInIM.com] and subscribe to his newsletter today!

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Blog - The New Business Meeting

A very hot Internet driven business initiative right now is a company blog; politicians to consultants, homebased business to Fortune 500 corporations, all are involved in blogging. You may not have a very clear picture of what a blog is and how it can be a useful communications tool for businesses.

Developed from web-based technology, blogs (short for web log) encourage second party communication from a specific audience on specific topics. Many people think of blogs as opinion forums but there are valid business applications as well. Whether you use it to communicate internally to your own employees or externally to your clients, blogs establish a different arena for sharing information and soliciting responses. Company blogs are an emerging trend and are predicted to be a normal communication method within just a few years.

Our company started a blog earlier this year as another tool for external communication. By posting New Projects we show what we're working on; by posting questions and asking for response we hope to learn about issues relevant to our industry that concern clients and the services they find valuable. Maybe that seems like self-promotion, but we think it offers existing clients and potential clients the opportunity to talk with us in a completely neutral setting.

Used for internal communication, a blog gives you another forum to offer the company perspective on a broad range of topics and solicit feedback from your associates. A blog is not a chat room and it isn't another method to take a survey. It can encourage thoughtful response, new ideas or brainstorming among collaborative teams. Say, for instance, that your IT team has an idea for a new software application but they have no idea if it is saleable. The folks that know what new products your clients might buy are in Sales. We all know that Sales hates meetings because that's time not spent selling (and making money). What if IT could post their new idea on the company website via a blog that is accessible to employees only and Sales could comment, ask questions, brainstorm and offer possible client uses for the new software. Feedback from lots of sources...meeting free collaboration.

Believe it or not, there are over 46 million blogs on the Internet covering every conceivable subject. More than 5000 companies maintain their own blog for internal and/or external audiences. Whatever your interest or occupation, I guarantee there are hundreds maybe thousands of blogs that apply to you. The easiest way to better understand blogs is to actually start blogging. Go to an Internet search engine, like Google, and enter a subject that interests you. Then just surf through a few sites and see what others are saying. You'll be amazed!

Claudia Trusty is passionate about working with small and mid-size companies to develop strong marketing and branding messages that drive results. For twenty years Trusty and Company has produced graphic design, advertising and interactive tools for clients in retail and service industries. Visit them on the web at http://trustyandcompany.com/.

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Blog Marketing: Where to Start

Maybe you have just read something about how Blogs can help you establish a web presence, but you are not sure how to start. Here is a guide and a few tips to get you started and increase your Internet traffic. Blogs can help any business, but they require research, maintenance, and creative writing skills.

Firstly, decide if a Blog is right for you by visiting Blogs. Go to Blogger, then use the search Blogs function. When you arrive at Blog Search beta, enter keywords related to your particular business niche. You must have passion about your specific niche in order to keep posting about it.

A tour of Blogs will open your mind to the number of different conversations about your niche and the variety of approaches to Blogs. You will notice that some Blogs have many posts about a specific subject. These "Bloggers" are excited about their subject and that is why they attract traffic. Some Blogs run like an open diary, and at this time, most don't have anything to do with business or marketing.

The constant posting and reciprocal linking between Blogs are just two of many reasons why Blogs are successful "traffic magnets." If you are in business, you may elect to have a Blog similar to those on Blogger or you might have a web host that already has this feature with your web site package. The Blog attached to a business website is really more of a "Corporate Blog" concept, but you can use this approach as a tool to draw much more traffic to your current web site.

You should discuss your options with all interested parties, your web master, and web designer. You don't have to have an outside web designer or web master in order to start a Blog, but if you already have people in place, why not get an informed opinion.

Let us assume that you have chosen a path at this point. Gather any past articles that you have written about your business, modify them for keyword content, and start posting. The more often you post, the better it will be, and posting daily is optimum.

When you post articles, include the URL of your Blog. You might want to add a signature similar to this.

FREE (Your Business Niche) Report.

FREE (Your Business Niche) Newsletter.

Visit: (Your Blog)

FREE CONTENT: If you are a web master, blogger, e-zine, or Internet publisher, and can use quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles) - Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, and please include the resources in the above paragraph. Thank you, (Your Name).

Everytime someone posts one of your articles with your resource box, that's one more link back to your Blog. If your articles or Blog entries are perceived as valuable, you are creating more traffic for yourself. Most of the web sites that post your articles will be from the same or a related niche. These become valuable links because their readers are already interested in your article topics.

You should also include your Blog URL at the bottom of all your Emails as a standard part of your signature with your name, address, telephone number, and other contact information. If you have room on your business card and stationary, please make room for your Blog URL.

Lastly, a content rich Blog is a great compliment to any Email marketing campaign. Unfortunately, reaching interested prospects and customers by Email is not what it used to be. Over aggressive spam filters throw out a good percentage of legitimate Email, but an interesting Blog will keep your customers and prospects coming back for more.

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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Blogging Schmogging: 6 Ways to Pump Up Your Posting Prowess

It's the most important part of the Internet today. It's a highly controversial issue in the area of free speech. It's the reason anybody in the world - businessperson, grad student, church pastor, pilot or teenager - can have a voice.
It's a blog. And if you don't know what that word means, prepare to be enlightened. Let's start with the facts. The following list will give you a crash course on blogging basics:

 A blog is a journal that is available on the web, short for the word "weblog"

 Blogs generally represent the personality of an individual or website

 A blog is a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links

 The activity of updating a blog is "blogging," someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger," and all the blogs in the world represent the "blogosphere"

 Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog

 A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's life 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

 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

 The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly--from links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea, to diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction."

Ok. Now that you're up to speed on the term, let's explore six ways to pump up your posting prowess.

TIP #1: Consistency

Technorati is THE authority on what's going on in the world of blogs. According to their website, they currently track 20.8 million blogs. Sadly, many of them lack consistency. And too many people create a blog simply for the sake of creating a blog. In other words, they're not updated regularly. The blogger posts a dozen or so posts initially, and then forgets all about it.

Therein lies the first key point: if you're going to blog, blog often. After all, it IS a marketing tool. You wouldn't run one newspaper ad on a random Tuesday and never advertise again. You'd do it consistently. So at the least, post more than twice a week.

TIP #2: Audience

If you post on a blog, you must talk directly to the reader. Keep it personal. Ask questions. Write conversationally. And don't be afraid to change your writing style to a more informal nature. Your readers will feel more comfortable posting their own comments after each of your posts. After all, that's the whole point of a blog: to create community. To create fans. And if you want to do that effectively, you must do so on a one-on-one basis.

TIP #3: Theme

All posts on your blog need to maintain consistency with your theme. So, before you even begin a blog, ask yourself the following question: If everybody who read my blog did exactly what I said, what would their world look like? Once you've answered that question, you'll have a foundation - a school of thought - to which all of your future blog posts will adhere.

Most blogs will have sections in which you can both name and explain what your blog is about. So, once you've uncovered your theme, you can easily come up with a pithy title and concise explanation. This will assure that every person who comes to your blog will know exactly what it's about as soon as they arrive.

TIP #4: Resource

Blogs aren't just for ranting, complaining, telling stores, asking questions and facilitating discussion. They're also resources. And each of your posts should contain at least one link to another blog or website that connects with your idea. This not only gives value to the reader, but creates internetworking opportunities as well. Because every time you connect your blog with someone else's, it's an opportunity to meet a fellow blogger with whom you can develop a mutually valuable relationship.

TIP #5: Visual

We live in a visual culture. People need stimulation. And when it comes to blogs, readers expect to see pictures, graphics, diagrams and other visuals to help accentuate your points. Use pictures from your own library, download free images that connect with your post, or even use picture links from other blogs. Whatever you do, just be sure to have something visual other than your words. After all, newspapers wouldn't sell very well without images, would they?

TIP #6: Sales

Many bloggers use their posts to help drive sales for their products or services which are consistent with the theme of the blog. The key to doing so successfully is accessibility and subtlety. So, make your products visible to your readers at all times. Scroll images of your items down one side of the page with links to your website. But keep the selling to a minimum. Readers of your blog don't want to be bombarded with ads. The average person already is exposed to 3000 ads a day, according to a 2003 UCLA study! So don't worry - informational, interesting and creative posts will do the selling for you.

With these six tips, you should have no trouble pumping up your posting prowess. So, start a blog today. And start reading other blogs today too. Because bloggers didn't get voted "Time Magazine's People of the Year 2004" for nothing!

Scott Ginsberg is a professional speaker, "The World's Foremost Expert on Nametags" and the author of HELLO my name is Scott and The Power of Approachability. He helps people MAXIMIZE their approachability and become UNFORGETTABLE communicators - one conversation at a time. For more information contact Front Porch Productions athttp://www.hellomynameisscott.com.

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How Not to Blog and Ping

You may have heard about the blog and ping technique that some of the guru's are proclaiming will skyrocket your traffic into the stratosphere. Did you realize that you are contributing to spam and slowly killing your own site and giving yourself a bad name? If you are or are just curious then read on.

There are a few software programs about that are basically promoting or at least encouraging blog and ping spam. If you are new to blog pinging then you can brush up on blog ping.

The blog and ping process that I personally dislike, not to be confused with a blog ping, is where software is used to spam ping services. We all know spam is bad. The manual process they use goes like this.

• You set up a free blog account.
• Add the free blog RSS feed to your My Yahoo page.
• You post to your blog every 15 minutes for several days.
• You then ping blogging services to let them known about your Splog.

Now this process encourages spam blogs or splogs and saturates the blog services that allow pings. The idea being that this creates traffic.

Now rather than promoting blog and ping services and making a few bucks in commission I am going to let you know about some free software that you can use to complement your blogging and generate some traffic the right way.

Pong

Pong [http://pongpong.org/] is a free desktop ping application that notifies blog tracking web services about updated blogs and feeds. There I copied that directly from the Pong site as I could not say it any better.

Pong allows you to ping the blog indexing services once you have made a new post on your blog. It's a real timesaver and because it's desktop based you can use it along with your web based or desktop based blogging software.

Allan is the webmaster at blogging resources at Blogtonomy, where you can find out all about blogging.

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Do You Know The 3 Key Ways to Blog to Promote Your Online Home Based Business?

Most People who Blog and Ping only use 1 Method to promote there online Home Based Business. Their are actually 3 Keys ways a Blog can help you promote your Online Home based Business for little or no cost to you. If you aren't using all 3 Methods then you are missing out on some huge marketing opportunities.

The 3 Methods are 

1. Blog and Ping
2. Article Distribution
3. Article Writing

It is highly recommended that you get a Separate Blog for Each of the above methods and possibly even a 4th Blog to Blog and Ping your other Blogs. There are many sources of free Blogs on the Internet. http://blogger.com is a very popular free blog service that also happens to be owned by Google. Another nice feature of Blogger is that they allow you to manage many Blogs from one account.

Method 1 - Blog and Ping

Blog and ping is probably the most popular way that people use Blogs to Market their online Business. Basically you create a Blog entry about your online web page then you Ping all the Blog Services and tell them you updated your Blog. This Method tends to get your Web Page and Blog Pages indexed faster by Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Method 2 - Article Distribution.

There are Many places on the Internet that have articles available that you can freely republish as long as you keep the resource Box, By Line and Copyright of the Author Unchanged. You simply find some articles related to your web page and then place them in your Blog. Of course you could write an Opening Paragraph introducing the Article or a closing paragraph summarizing the article. Make Sure that your Opening and/ or closing Paragraphs refer to your online Web Site. After you Update your Blog you Ping all the Blog Services as in step 1.

Method 3 - Article Writing

I firmly believe everyone has an Article or 2 in them. I am no Journalist far from it and I Write Articles. When I was in college I wrote 2 term papers the first one was for a mandatory Freshman English writing class that everyone had to take and the second one was my very last semester. I broke my leg Skiing the day before my last final and the teacher told me to write a term paper because she didn't want to create a special final just for me. So if I can write an article anyone can. If you need help writing that article here is a 'how to' article you can look at.
([http://www.ewguru.com/hbiz/articles/article-in-you.html])

Now that you wrote that article Publish it to your Blog and then Ping as in steps 1 and 2. Don't forget to include a Resource Box in your article. Lastly be sure to submit your article to the article Directories. ([http://www.ewguru.com/hbiz/article-submit.html])

Super User Tip.
Create a 4th Blog and make entries to it whenever you update any of the above 3 Blogs. Then Ping the Blog Server for some extra exposure. You may want to use a different Blog Server like Bloglines for this 4th Blog.

Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001. Subscribe to Mike's Newsletter here [http://www.ewguru.com/hbiz/list-sign-up.html]

Get some useful Free Downloads Here: [http://trafficninja.com],

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Profit Pulling Niche Blogs with Wordpress

When it comes to building and creating profit pulling niche blogs niche sites) Wordpress really shines and really beat Blogger.com heads down.

Wordpress is more than just a blogging software.

In the past when blogging first evolved, marketers did not give it much thought...until they discovered the power of syndication through RSS feeds.

With Rss feeds, they can now reach out to a target markets they normally would not have been able to.

Wordpress has an in-built syndication function, unlike Blogger.com where it still needs some configuration.

In addition, Wordpress has some powerful features that make it a marketer's dream tool:

(a) Automatic Pinging

Wordpress will automatically ping the blog directories listed each time you publish a post.

[http://www.wordpressvideos.com]

(b) Categories

It might not seem like a big deal, but when you realize that you can name the category using keywords you want to target, then BAM!

It hits you like a rock. You can have multiple categories named using keywords you want to target, and write your post under that category. With proper planning and carefully spreading the same keyword in your post, you can achieve higher
Search Engine rankings easily.

(c) Plugins

Plugins give Wordpress additional functions and features. All you need to do is upload the Plugin file, Activate the plugin file and you're set to go.

(d) Easily change the theme of your blog (site)

With Wordpress, everything is just point and click (or plug N play). You can easily change the theme and layout of your Blog without having to learn about web design.

Wordpress is easy to master. Visit [http://www.wordpressvideos.com] where you'll find a collection of expert video tutorials with Monthly Updates and other bonuses to help you in your online business.

Brandon Hong

[http://www.wordpressvideos.com]

Brandon is author of "Wordpress Videos". Learn the strategies, techniques of building your profit pulling niche blogs with Wordpress. He is also author of Clickbank's best seller "Marketing Rampage with Blogs and RSS" Videos and Audio e-book "Blogs and Rss Revealed".

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Tips on Using Blogs in Your Home Business Website

A trend that has been growing on the web is the use of blogs. These may be quite useful in your home business since e-mail applications including newsletters have been hard hit in recent year due to UCE (unsolicited commercial e-mail) or spam. Blogs are a content delivery method which might eventually replace commercial e-mail to a certain degree. As a matter of fact, a blogs may contain any content that you want. By using them to help promote your home business you are accessing an entirely new audience. Getting a blog going is not really that hard. Blogger(owned by google) might just be the best way. Tblog is also a free service, and paid ones include salon dot com and the blogging network. Tripod offers a free blog builder and hosting service as well. It was one of the first such free services, yet may be inferior to some services in certain respects. You can also use software applications if you want to to create a more personalized blog for your home business.

One of the big advantages of using a blog is that they tend to get good search engine posititioning due to interlinking and their inherent content. Search Engines know that most blogs are updated on a regular basis. Blogs have brought in a whole new texture to the media relations world because bloggers are often seen as opinion leaders and such. Topic specific blogs have become a kind of "speaker's corner" for the internet due to their relevency. Area specific blogs can also be a useful resource. You might want to set up a city based blog. Or a blog that covers certain topics or news effecting a certain state or other geographical location. Blogs can also be a source of news for subjects not covered by the mainstream media. You could use blogs to either promote your home business directly or use the traffic to promote an affiliate program like Google AdWords to set up another stream of income.

Once you have your blog up and running, there are a number of superb resources that you can use to promote it. Blog-city is a blog search engine and directory, blogsearchengine.com, blogwise (paid) and bloghop dot com(paid). Using blogs effectively can certainly improve the internet marketing results for your home business! For additional home business tips go to Home Business Match.com [http://www.home-business match.com/resources.html] and look at the free reprint original home business article archive there.

Ryan Joseph is writer of home business and other topics. More info at http://www.home-business match.com

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What the BLOG?

Blogs Are the NEW Secret Weapon for Reaching Your Tarket. Just like you, I hate being marketed to. Every day we're bombarded with over 3,500 marketing messages. And frankly I'm sick of it! But blogs are different. Blogs are a two-way conversation between blogger and bloggee (plus all the readers in between). Through commenting and cross-linking, you can share feedback. You can build your network. You can become, dare I say it, an Internet celebrity!

See blogs add humanity and instantaneous expression to the web. Like ezines, blogs are a way for your customer to get to know you.

However, unlike ezines, blogs help you with search engine rankings. Did you hear me? I said, unlike ezines, blogs help you with search engine rankings. That's a big one.

Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Week, even the FCC (Federal Trade Commission) all believe blogs are here to stay. Recently Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, started one. His initial post drew over 30,000 readers. A Microsoft spokesperson says Bill Gates is considering starting a blog. And filmmaker Michael Moore built a blog to promote his controversial new movie, Fahrenheit 9/11.

But who has time to read a blog anyway? Exactly! The job of a blog is to cut through the information overload and deliver searchable, relevant and current content. BlogAds website recently conducted a survey of over 17,000 blog readers.

Here's what they report:

• Blog readers are older and more affluent. 61% of blog readers are over 30, and 75% make more than $45,000 a year.
• Blog readers are more cyber-active. 54% of their news consumption is online. 21% are themselves bloggers and 46% describe themselves as opinion makers.
• Blog readers are media-mavens. 21% subscribe to the New Yorker magazine, 15% to the Economist, 15% to Newsweek and 14% to the Atlantic Monthly.
• Whether on the left or right, blog readers have traits in common that often are absent in today's public spaces: passion and initiative.
• Blog readers have apathy towards traditional news sources. 82% say that television is worthless. 55% percent say the same about print newspapers. 54% say the same about print magazines.
• Meanwhile, 86% say that blogs are either useful or extremely useful as sources of news or opinion. 80% say they read blogs for news they can't find elsewhere. 78% read because the perspective is better. 66% value the faster news. 61% say that blogs are more honest.
• Blog readers appear united in their dissatisfaction with conventional media and their rabid love of blogs.

Don't you want to be a blogger too? How about looking at some samples of the good, the bad and the bizarre?

Model citizen blogs: John Reese's blog. Hey, the guy just made $1,080,496.37 online in a single day. Here's a good rule of thumb. If Reese is doing it, you should be too.

Copywriter Paul Myers keeps us up-to-date on SPAM and other Internet marketing nightmares.

Michael Port's weekly calls to inspire those who aspire now have an online connecting point. Designed by Andy Wibbels.

My Blog: http://www.red-hot-copy.com/blog.htm - my blog today.

Bizarro Blog: Jeff Bridges' site is considered a "blog." It's hand-written! (Yes, really). http://www.jeffbridges.com

I've been dipping my toe into the blogging pool since earlier this year. Now I've decided it's time to really learn how to do this stuff with an expert who will take me by the hand through the scary forest of the blog-world. I'm going back to school! Through another client, I met blogging guru, Andy Wibbels. Sure, he has a funny name, but he is adorable! And his writing style has me rolling on the floor. Well Andy is a self-professed geek. And Andy knows blogs. He says it's easy and I trust him.

If you want to find out the whole story about how to deeply reach the women in your target audience, you can check out this link to the *The She Factor* by visiting http://www.TheSheFactor.com and decide if you are ready to join us for the next class.

Award-winning marketer, world-renowned copywriter and creator of "The She Factor®", Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero of Red Hot Copy has a reputation as the top female copywriter in the info-marketing industry. She has written award-winning home study courses, conducts a world-famous virtual copywriting training, holds live workshops, and is authoring the original book, The She Factor based on her own She Factor Marketing System. Lorrie is dedicated to teaching the world it is possible to shift from the hype-filled sales to a more modern version...marketing written with authenticity, trust, and rapport.

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Make Money with Your Own Blog

Well, basically, setting up a blog means that you are creating a little space of your own on the Internet where you can make posts about anything that interests you. Of course, if you are going to be blogging on a variety of topics, the best way to make money with it would be to have different blogs for different topics otherwise your blog will be just one big jumbled mess that nobody would want to read about.

So what topics should you blog on? Well, I would suggest blogging about your own interests or favourite hobbies. There are always people out there who could learn from your specific experience.

Let's say for instance your favourite passion is your love for dogs. You could blog about anything pertaining to dogs. Do you know how to potty train a dog in a week? Lots of people would love to know how to get their dogs not to do their potty work inside the house :) Or do you have a recipe for a dog biscuit that your dog absolutely adores? There are lots of people who absolutely adore their dogs - I am one! And they do a lot of searches on the topics of dogs, cats, puppies, kittens etc. So why not make some money out of sharing your own knowledge to help those people? Share your tips with them and they will just love you for it!

So, how would you make money out of having a blog even if you don't have a product to sell? One word: Adsense. AdSense is a program offered by Google that pays webmasters and blog owners to display Google ads called AdWords on their sites, and if you have a blog that gets many visitors, they will click on the ads which means that you will earn money from it. To learn more about how to apply for and start using AdSense on your own site, visit : Google Ads

Some tips before you apply for the AdSense program:

1. You have to have an existing blog or an existing site.

2. Your website has to have at least 10-15 pages of relevant content. If you have a blog that you want to apply AdSense to, you have to have at least 5 or more posts on your blog.

3. Your blog or site must have a clean, easy to use interface. No under construction pages or broken links, or too many animated gifs, or pop ups.

4. You don't have to have a professionally designed website or blog. The simpler your site is the better for the search engines to spider, and the better it will be for your visitors to navigate.

How to get a blog? You can either have blog that you can host at your own website, like Wordpress Wordpress is an easy to set up php script that is free for download.

Alternatively, you could use any of the free blog services like: Blogger to set up a blog that will be hosted on their server.

So to recap: Select a topic that you would like to blog about, set up a blog, make a couple of posts a day on your blog, wait about 5 days, then apply for the Google AdSense program.

Once you have been approved for Adsense, you should submit your blog or website to the major search engines. If you don't know the major search engines, do a search for "free website submission". You will find that there are a lot of sites that will allow you to use their services for free to submit your site or blog to various search engines.

Their are various blog directories that you should also list your blog with. Once again, do a search for blog directories, and submit your site to all the the ones that you can find.

Tell others about your blog, your family and friends etc. Ask them to tell others about your blog. That way you will start getting instant traffic. Just a word of caution: do NOT ask family and friends to click on your AdSense ads, and under no circumstances should you click on any of the ads yourself - that is a sure fire way of getting banned by Google and you will have lost a valuable income source!

Now that you know how to start your own blog, you have no excuse not to make money online! Happy blogging!

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Why Blog?

It seems everyone these days is talking about blogging. Everywhere I go, I find articles and forums devoted to this craze. I also have heard from many home business owners who are trying to figure out what a blog is and how they can use one to their benefit.

The term "blog" is short for "weblog", which just means an online journal or "log". You can jot down personal thoughts and notes, post articles you've written or keep track of interesting websites you find. The sky is the limit, it seems, when it comes to blogging. A blog is something entirely of your own creation and you can use it to share your thoughts with the world, well....with anyone you can get to read it anyway.

One of the main debates going on about blogs is whether blogging can be done to improve Search Engine rankings for businesses or to create a buzz about business websites. Both of these can be true if the blog is used correctly. Many resources show that once a blog is created, many times it is listed in Search Engines within 48 hours. This was true of the blog I created for Christian Work at Home Moms.

These are many ways to create a blog. The easiest by far is to use one of the free tools available online, such as Google's Blogger. You can create your blog for free using their online tools and templates(nothing to download). After you have created the blog, you can then publish your blog through them and "Wa-La" - your blog is posted online for the world to see.

Once you've created your blog, you will need to decide how you will use it. Will it be a personal blog, full of thoughts and comments for yourself alone or maybe your family? Or will it be a business blog, with articles and tips for potential customers? If you want your blog to be found by others, blogging experts recommend that you begin by setting the title and descriptions for your blog. These are similar to the the title and descriptions you set for your website. Try to make them meaningful because they are what people will see when your blog is returned in a Search Engine. If your description is simply "my blog", you may not draw the attention you'd like.

If you are blogging in the hopes of attracting customers, make sure to use wise use of words and links in your blogs. Try to avoid the "click here" link. Instead, opt for links within descriptive sentences. Add the HTML link within the sentence and attach it to the words that are closely related to the page or site you are linking to. For example, to link to my website I would not use "click here" as my link. I would say, "Please visit Christian Work at Home Moms for home-based work resources."

There are many ways to get your blog noticed outside of optimizing them for Search Engines. For instance, there are entire websites devoted to listing blogs dedicated to any topic that you can think of. One of the best such websites devoted to women-created blogs, is BlogDaisy.com. You can also use free tools such a FeedBurner.com to track the traffic on your blog and to create a dynamic title box that can be used to display your blog headlines on your website or even in your email signature. Each time you update your blog, these headlines are instantly updated.

There are many ways to use a blog for either personal or business use. If used correctly, a blog can be a terrific tool to inform potential customers of your business. Be sure to update your blog at least once a week so that the content remains fresh and you remain in the Search Engines.

Jill Hart is the author of the e-book, 2 Weeks Devotional Journey for Christian Work at Home Moms, and the founder and editor of Christian Work at Home Moms CWAHM.com. This site is dedicated to providing work at home moms with opportunities to promote their businesses while at the same time providing them spiritual encouragement and articles.

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