Category Archives: Blog
8 ‘Creative’ Types of Blog Posts
If you own a blog you know the importance of keeping your blog fresh and your audience interested. It can be challenging to come up with blog posts that won’t bore your visitors and is interesting enough to keep them coming back.
It doesn’t matter whether you are blogging for fun or blogging to make money, if visitors are your goal then here are eight types of blog posts that you can use to keep your blog interesting, promote sharing, increase followers and encourage comments.
Type 1 – The ‘QUICK TIPS’ Blog Post
Quick tips are great “in between” posts. They are short and normally between 100 and 250 words. If you have ideas that you want to share with your readers but it doesn’t justify a full blog post, posting quick tips are ideal. The tip should be focused on one key area of your niche. For example, “How to eat less when eating out” is a perfect ‘quick tip’ for a dieting blog.
Type 2 – The ‘HOW TO’ Blog Post
Expanding on the quick tips blog post, let’s look at the ‘how to’ posts. These provide expanded and much more detailed information to your readers on how to do specific things related to your niche such as step-by-step instructional detail or specific examples. You could even separate these posts into two or three part courses.
For ideas on ‘how to’ posts, have a look at niche topic forums or other related blogs for questions that others are asking on how to do specific things. Well written, detailed informative ‘how to’ posts are typically very popular and can help recognize you as an authority in your field.
Type 3 – The ‘REVIEW’ Blog Post
Product or service reviews are especially useful to readers because it helps them with the decision buying process. It’s also a great way to monetize your blog. This is particularly beneficial to affiliate marketers. When you review a product and include your affiliate link, this gives you the opportunity to make a commission from each sale you generate.
The key to writing a credible ‘review’ blog post is not to simply go over the major benefits and highlights of the product, but to also mention things about the product that could be improved. This keeps your review balanced and also gives your reader a more objective view. Your blog visitors will appreciate your candid honesty and will be more likely to trust your recommendation.
Type 4 – The RESOURCE Blog Post
Some of the most popular blogs use resource lists. Blog readers love lists because they can easily scan the information and focus on what they are most interested in reading.
For example, if writing a post on the ’10 ways to lose weight fast’ a resource list would mention the posts from related blogs that also have this information. This gives your reader a much broader view of ideas and tips available to them.
By doing this you will also find that readers will look to you as a useful resource for finding as much well-rounded information as possible on the topic at hand.
Type 5 – The INTERVIEW Blog Post
People love interviews, especially if it’s with someone they like and admire. Try interviewing someone in your niche and sharing the results of the interview with your blog readers. This is also a powerful traffic generator as the person you interview will most likely post the interview on their blog and around the web, bringing more traffic back to you!
Type 6 – The ‘BEST OF’ Blog Post
These are great end of the year or end of season posts. For example, if you do a lot of reading, you might list the ‘best of’ articles, books or guides that you read during the past year. Additionally, you could also create a post highlighting your most popular blog posts of the year. Whatever your niche, have a look back at the items, events or ideas that were the year’s best and create a post around them. This can be a fun, especially for the nostalgic reader.
Type 7 – The PERSONAL STORY’ Blog Post
Everyone loves a personal story. Anyone that follows you or your blog would be interested in a personal event or happening related to your niche. Did you attend a seminar? Did you buy a new product? Did you have a mishap that could be made an example of? Without getting too personal or overly detailed, writing a blog post on you personal achievements or activities almost always draws interest and feedback.
Type 8 – The ‘NEWS’ Blog Post
Every niche has some news related items or happenings. Keep your eyes and ears open to what’s going on, then find a newsworthy item and write your personal comments. This is not only an easy to create, quick post; it also encourages feedback from readers. Be sure to link to the post you are referring to along with your comments.
Liz McGee, author and marketing specialist, offers free tips and help for those that want to make money online, not lose it. Join Liz’s free newsletter, blog & discussion forum where you can find out How to start an internet home business & learn internet marketing, free
Nine Tips for a Profitable Blog
There’s no doubt that more businesses are realizing the power of blogging to establish their expertise, rank higher at the search engines, and improve their communication with prospects and customers.
But as more companies jump into the blogosphere it becomes more difficult for your blog to get noticed, and therefore to make you money. Here are nine quick tips to make your blog a profitable marketing tool.
1. Blog for your audience. As the blogosphere matures, the face of business blogging is changing as well. Although the discourse can still be freer than your Web site or email newsletter, people want content they can use. A few posts in a row about what you had for breakfast and you’re toast.
2. Make your blog search engine friendlier. Blogs are search engine friendly by design. By choosing keyword-rich category names and writing keyword-rich post titles you can greatly increase your search engine visibility and drive more qualified leads to your site.
3. Engage your most active commenters. Some blogs naturally attract more comments because of their popular or controversial topics. You can increase the comments on your blog by responding to each commenter in an email, linking back to or commenting at their blogs, and mentioning them by name in later posts.
4. Comment on influential blogs in your niche. Find the influential bloggers in your niche(s) through a Technorati search and read their posts. When you have something intelligent to add to the conversation, comment away. These comments create links to your own blog, and should drive some more traffic your way.
5. Submit your site to blog directories. When I started developing Web sites getting listed in Yahoo took an email. Now it takes $299…a year. Submit your site while it’s (mostly) free.
6. Promote your blog’s newsfeed. Every blog platform creates a feed for syndication, but some blogs don’t have it easily available. Make sure your is obvious.
7. Add an email subscription. Although newsfeeds are important, not all of your readers will understand how to subscribe to one. Everyone, however, understands how to subscribe to an email newsletter. I recommend using Feedburner for this task, as it also allows you to easily create newsfeeds and track subscribers.
8. Include social bookmarking links. Getting a post into Digg, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, or any of the popular social networking/bookmarking sites, can generate thousands of additional page views. Make it easier on visitors to promote your posts by including links to these services within every post.
9. Leverage your blog traffic into real business. Don’t forget that this is your business blog, not your personal one; you’re looking for a return on investment. Create appropriate calls-to-action in the form of links that drive traffic from your blog to your Web site or online store.
Just don’t be too heavy handed; visitors won’t become subscribers or customers if you’re doing nothing but self-promotion. Use a deft hand to establish your expertise and build relationships with readers, but make it easy for them to buy from you when they’re ready.
While every item in this list will help make your blog more profitable, pay most attention to the first and last tips. Blog for your customers because nothing else will have an impact if you don’t focus on their needs. Blog for your business because the purpose of a business blog is to help your company grow and succeed.
Rich Brooks is president of flyte new media a Web design and Internet marketing company. Flyte designs professional Web sites and promotes them with strategic Web marketing campaigns that include search engine optimization, email marketing, business blogs and more.
He blogs on Web marketing topics regularly at flyte blog: web marketing strategies for small business and publishes a monthly email newsletter called flyte log. You may also find articles by Rich at the TalentZoo.com
Tom's of Maine Wicked Fresh Moments
This post brought to you by Toms of Maine. All opinions are 100% mine.
My family and I am a big fan of Tom’s Of Maine, products, and even much earlier. Tom’s of Maine has released a product called sweet mouth hygiene and cross country as tooth toothpaste and mouth rinse. Little known, Wicked Fresh! Also a brand of toothpaste and mouthwash in the companies I know Tom’s of Maine. Tom’s of Maine has experienced more than 40 years and has become one of the leaders in the production of natural products, in particular those of oral and personal hygiene.
Tom products are not only good for the body, because they contain natural ingredients, but are also good for the environment. Wicked Fresh!™ Toothpaste and Wicked Fresh!™ Mouthwash both performed with pending patent botanical extracts and natural fragrance oils to refreshing encouragement and leave a clean feeling naughty mouth sweet! Wicked Fresh!™ Toothpaste provides protection against decay, and strong flavor oil and patent-pending natural botanical extracts to provide a lasting fresh breath.
I am surprised how crisp and refreshing breath fresh and clean teeth. The mouthwash rinse mouth fresh mischievous is the same as others, but do not have the ‘ burning ‘ as other desserts. We all know that it is important to have a clean mouth and a fresh breath. You know the time, such as a job interview, dentist or appointments. If you have experience with Tom’s of Maine and each “Wicked Fresh” moments of her own, also had the opportunity to share their experiences about That’s Wicked Fresh contest page that mischievous cool contest and will participate in a chance to win big company’s products. You could win a $500 or one of the hundreds of other awards Target gift card. Wow, that’s great!
You have a Twitter or Facebook, you can follow Tom’s of Maine on Facebook or on Twitter @TomsofMaine.
Tips for Developing Your Weblog or Photoblog
Blogging has become a hot topic for many photographers. Even established “old school” photographers have jumped on the blogging bandwagon. As an early adopter of weblogs, a blogger who has been blogging since 2002, I get asked about blogging and photo blogging a lot. How do you make a blog? How do you decide what to say? How do you get traffic to your site? If you search the Internet, there’s already a lot of information about this, but there are a few pointers and tips that can help you establish and cultivate a successful weblog. Here are some simple tips you can follow to get the most out of blogging and to really develop your weblog into something magical that supports your photography and your vision.
Tip 1: Don’t fuss over templates-too many people spend too long worrying about how their site looks to create content. My biggest suggestion is to slap something simple up, start writing posts and, after you get 15 or 20 good, solid posts up, then re-do your template. Once you are happy with your template, don’t think about it too often, in fact, only rework it once a year if you feel the need. Focus on content and keep the templates, the look and feel of your site, as simple as possible.
Tip 2: Twenty posts a month (or more.) People want to actually read a blog, and they want to come every day to see what you have to say, so plan on writing twenty posts a month. Now, there are many websites, like NaBloPoMo, which are wonderful-they’re designed to get you to post each and every day. That’s great, if you can do it. The problem is, there’s really no value in what I like to call “empty posts.” You know what I’m talking about here-nobody wants to click on your site and read something like “Sorry I didn’t have time to post today. Here’s a picture of….” If you can’t generate 20 solid posts a month, consider moving your website to a weekly site (“picture of the week,” that sort of a thing) or make it a static website, not a weblog at all. Move to Facebook, Twitter, or one of the other social media outlets to update your peeps, you’ll get better results and you won’t waste your time trying to do a blog that nobody is going to read anyway. If you feel you must, you absolutely must run a blog anyway, consider teaming up with a pool of others who can generate quality content, but maybe on a limited basis, so you won’t feel as pressured to generate so much content.
Tip 3: People visit photo blogs for one of two reasons. They either want to be informed or they want to live vicariously through you.
If you are providing information, try to provide as much information as you can, while keeping it brief, relevant, and to the point. Somebody who posts the latest in equipment reviews, and is honest, for example, will always get a lot of hits. Write about what you know, become an expert in your selected field, and the traffic will follow.
For those doing the “slice of life” style weblogs, don’t forget who you are as a photographer and who your audience is as a reader. People want to live vicariously through you and your travels. We no longer farm for food, we are a nation (and globe actually) of office workers. People sit in cubicles and fantasize-they want to be you. It’s an escape of sorts for them, almost like watching TV or going to a movie. So, the next tip is simple-give them what they want. In a way, modern photographers have become almost like monkeys in a cage with cameras, but that’s what people want to see when they visit a weblog so that is where they will flock.
Now, your perspective on being a photographer might be about being in the trenches. You might be one of those photographers who hustles a lot, always pulling in new clients and promoting your work. For you, photography is about working as hard as you can and taking the best shots you can get-it’s all about professionalism, and you do not have time to support beginners. To run a successful weblog, you have to stop thinking like a workhorse and start thinking like a reader. People reading your blog want to read it and think, “he’s making it! He’s doing it!” What keeps people reading blogs and coming back to your site is that attitude that they can do it too. They want to be just like you, in terms of producing consistently high quality photographic work. As people start to follow you, they start to live through your adventures. It’s why blogs and blogging in general has become so popular. Photography almost doesn’t exist today, as it did decades ago. Everybody wants to view the “behind the scenes” work, even more than they want to view the finished product. They want to feel a part of the action, not view from the sidelines. You need to stop thinking that the gallery or the frame is the only home for a “finished” product, and start recognizing the value of the behind the scenes visibility. Susan Sontag once said that “everything exists to be photographed” and the web make this so. If you want to be successful, you need to fuel that. You need to feed it and milk it. Go ahead, do a “slice of life” blog, show us your daily shower, your morning coffee, but make it interesting. Make somebody sitting on the outside look at it and think, “I want to be like that” or “I want to do that too” and you’ll be a success.
Now, some of my smart (and regular) readers out there may now be thinking, “you’re crazy. You don’t do any of that on your blog.” And, I’d have to admit, they’d be right, I don’t. My blog is different. I’m not trying to help you live vicariously or even pass along relevant information. My blog is a third type of blog: the personal journal. The personal journal is different altogether. I don’t write it for you, I write it for me. When I write my blog, I’m not trying to generate traffic, make “monthly numbers” or any of that. No, what I’m trying to do is something completely different. I’m trying to express myself with words and images. The goal of my blog is simple really. I want to enjoy myself. It’s an expression of who I am, much like an extension of my photography. I’d have to admit it, if you’re this type of blogger or not, there’s only one real rule you need to live by and that’s to have fun with it.
If your blog feels like a chore, or you feel like you have a monkey on your back everytime you miss a post, maybe blogging isn’t the medium for you. There’s no harm in admitting that. In fact, it’s probably better to skip the blog altogether if you aren’t going to put the time and energy into doing it right. But, if you’re the type of person who can step up to the challenge and follow these simple tips, blogging can be a successful and profitable endeavor. I hope you can put some of these tips to use in making or continuing your weblog. It’s important to realize that your weblog is just part of your brand as a photographer-it’s a small extension of you-your vision, your aesthetic-so you should treat it this way, but have some fun in the process.
Link Exchange
Do you have a website and want to get many visitors or just improve your site’s link popularity? Lots of ways to increase revenue from our business and one way is by improving our website link on other sites that are relevant and this is usually called the link exchange. This will increase revenue and bring visitors to your website. Link exchange is a simple process that provides links to other websites on relevant sites. In return the site to put a link to a website or blog. The main purpose of internet marketing is to convert a higher percentage of online traffic to the customer. You can choose to do so in a different way. The method, which offers high impact and high conversion of peripheral customer, the customer is building a link exchange.
To learn more about how to enter the blog link-exchange.disastercover.com niche to exchange links. Blogs offer a unique platform to understand the various techniques to create a reciprocal link exchange and share their experiences (good and bad) during your study to link building. Some people believe that to be successful online they have to direct thousands of targeted visitors to their sites. They also believe that they should spend their time adjusting the script and the contents of their pages, to make search engines spider them and rank them well.
It is true that there are some quick and easy script and text files etc that you can place on all your pages, and on your server, which will guide the spider to keep coming back and also guide them to index your pages, this does not need long time to do and I believe it helps a little. Of course this is very effective to place your website into the top positions in search engines. Thus the greater the chances you get more revenue.
