What is a blog?
You probably already know that the word “blog” is a shortened version of “web log” and that a blog is a platform on which someone or some company can impart information. Simply put, a blog is a place where you can tell friends, business associates, or clients what you want them to know about you and/or your company.
A blog is not the exact same thing as a website. The beauty of a blog is that it can easily be updated as often as you’d like with current information, whereas a website isn’t changed very often. Also, because blogs are constantly being updated with new posts, the search engines love blogs and can rank them higher in searches. Another factor favoring blogs is that they usually have more elements of your personality than a static website.
Probably the benefit I like the best about blogs over websites is that blog readers are encouraged to give feedback by way of the Leave A Comment function. When people leave comments on your blog it shows that your blog is being respectfully read and that makes you a bit of a trusted expert. Blog commenting forges a sense of “team” and team players can give you valuable info on what to blog about and what products you should create. They’re also more likely to buy from you.
Why should you blog?
Before you begin, before you write your very first post, determine the purpose of your blog. What will be the function of your blog? Is it a base for political rants, personal matters, educational info, a narrow niche interest, reviews of affiliate products, promotion of your service, to sell products, or a combination?
With the exception of personal blogging, the bottom line is that you want to establish yourself as an expert, the go-to person, and you want to make money, right? Think about how you want to monetize your blog. Do you want to have ads or AdSense? Do you want to do occasional product reviews or other promotions? Do you want to showcase your ghostwriting services? Do you want to set up a store?
What skills do you need?
Setting up a blog is much easier and quicker than setting up a website for the online beginner and it doesn’t require that you know html or advanced web building skills. In fact, once you know what you’re doing and have done it a few times, you can throw up a new blog in minutes. I recommend you view some video tutorials to get started.
Keeping your blog fed by continually posting fresh content on a regular basis can be the hardest, yet most rewarding part. Before you start, make sure there is plenty to say about your blog topic and that it’s not so narrow that your idea well will run dry. For example, how many posts can you write about staplers or toenail fungus?
What other strategies work well with having a blog?
- Article marketing
- Using PLR
- Using keywords effectively in your posts
- Doing audio interviews
- Outsourcing any of your needs; content writing, changing blog style, researching, etc
- Knowing good sales copy if you promote any product on your blog
- Placing ads on your site
- Offering your services on the Internet
- How to get traffic
- List Building
- Web 2.0
- Mentoring or coaching
There are so many cool things you can do with your blog that I can’t list them all here. You can give your blog some pretty bling, change your blog theme whenever you want, and add plug-ins that do everything but make your bed and brush your teeth.
The main thing is to get started and make your blog work for you. I’ve listed resources below to help you move forward with using a blog to enhance your online business.
Tags: Articles, blogging, blogging article
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