The Silent Avatar Speaks

The first question new bloggers ask is “which blog system should I use?” To know the answer is a bit like knowing what fuel your car runs on best.

TypePad, Blogger, and WordPress are the most popular blogging applications and while each have their own advantages the clear winner is WordPress.

You can download WordPress (it’s no-cost), install it on your host server, buy a proper domain name and then get blogging.

MSN Spaces blogging system is used by a lot of teenagers use because it is linked with the MSN Messenger chat service. If you are serious about blogging then take my advice and steer clear of it. If you just want to blog about your dog/girlfriend/how much you hate your job then it’s fine, but if you are blogging for any professional purposes then you need something professional.

DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU

This could be your story…

Here’s a story about Mike . Mike’s niche blogger. He’s set up lots of little blogs on all kinds of topics (niches) with the purpose of making a few dollars from each blog by placing Google AdSense advertisements on them (Google pays you when someone clicks on the ads)

After a few months he had built up his income. None of his blogs had a lot of traffic, but they got enough from search engines to earn Mike between $1 and $10 per day. In total he earned over $2000 per month from his blogs. All in all not a not a bad effort.

One day he turned on his computer and all his blogs had gone. Just disappeared without a trace…

So what happened to his blogs you ask?

He was using one Blogger.com account to manage his blogs and Blogger.com determined that what he was doing was violating their terms of service.

They thought all his blogs were what are called “splogs” – SPAM blogs.

Splogs are blogs set up to get traffic to other sites. They are usually automatically generated and the owners have no intention of producing a useful website – they just want to get traffic directed to their other sites. You could say they are the SPAM of the blogging world.

Mike contacted the support staff at Blogger.com to explain that his sites were not SPAM sites but try as he may he couldn’t convince them his blogs were legitimate, so they never reactivated his account. Overnight he lost his regular $2000 per month income in one hit.

Therein lies the moral of the story… OWN YOUR BLOG

If Mike had hosted his blogs using WordPress on his own servers with his own domains this simply would never have happened. It may cost a bit more upfront to buy the domain names and rent the server space (WordPress itself is free) but the security and control you get makes it worthwhile.

Besides the ownership benefit WordPress has many other advantages:

• It’s free, very powerful and runs of a MySQL database so it’s quick.
• It has a very easy installation procedure.
• There are hundreds of free themes you can download and install allowing you to change the look of your blog.
• There are hundreds of plug-ins that provide extra functionality.

All of the above benefits are available because the WordPress system is Open Source Software, which means anyone can look at the code and modify the program. Consequently there are hundreds of programmers working to make WordPress the best blogging system and they do it for free – just for the good of the software.

GET STARTED BLOGGING

By now you will have seen the benefits of a WordPress blog.

If you haven’t done so already, here are the 3 steps you can do right now to get your new WordPress blog installed.

1. Go to http://wordpress.org/download/ and download WordPress.

2. Buy a domain name and hosting package. At the moment I use and recommend Bluehost.

3. Install your blog. Done!

If installing a blog is beyond your capabilities then take advantage of the one click installation option in Bluehost. This option allows you have a WordPress blog installed with one click so you don’t have to do the WordPress uploading process.

You can skip step one above if you do this.

BACK-UP YOUR BLOG

I’ll leave you with this one last very important note…

If you are going to stay with Blogger.com, TypePad, or even if you use WordPress there is one task you should add to your weekly “to-do” list – and that’s back-ups!

Make sure you have an offline archive of all your content so if for whatever reason you lose your blog just “disappears” or malfunctions you can restore all the content. If you own your domains you won’t lose your traffic either because you can restore things to exactly how they were.

So the choice is yours.. do you want your latest blog to run on ethanol, standard or super? The choice is clear.

Here’s to your blogging success!

Tags: Blogging by the silent avatar
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Blogging has come of age! Hallelujah I say!

No longer content to sit back and be whimsical  musings of teenagers and bored housewives, blogging has become an essential tool for your business.

Blogs and blogging has become so commonplace a well designed blog can even take the place of a conventional web site!

Here are my top 7 reasons for your business to have a blog:

1. Blogs are a powerful marketing tool.
A blog is a simple, effective way to communicate with the public and your customers. Your blog is a means of communicating new product launches, business news, tips, and articles of interest. You can even have a photo blog of your products. It’s also a way of keeping your visitors up-to-date with what’s happening in your industry.

2. Blogs are the easiest way to add content to your site.
By adding blog posts which are relevant, interesting and compelling to your visitors you will be increasing the unique content of your site. Adding unique content to your site increase the search engine rankings. Of course this isn’t the only way to increase your site rankings, however adding fresh, meaningful new content consistently will always be rewarded with increased rankings. Every article you post is an opportunity for SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

3. Blogging allows you to share your expertise with your visitors,
which in turn establishes ongoing trust and credibility to your business. A blog is an effortless way to share your knowledge. Blogs compel you to share more of your knowledge more often.

4. A blog allows your visitors to get to know you.
Sharing your knowledge through writing your blog uncovers not just what you know about a subject, but also more about who you are – it’s an opportunity to engage your customers (or potential customers) in personal dialogue. A blog humanises you and your organization.

5. It’s inexpensive
Setting up a blog whether you decide to have a stand alone blog (which doubles as your core web site), or a add-on to your business web site, requires nothing more than time to set it up. This blog uses WordPress. I can’t speak highly enough WordPress and it’s distributed under the GNU Public Domain Licence – so it’s free!

6. Blogs deliver instant feedback.
One of the best advantages of having a blog is the instant feedback you receive to your posts through vistors leaving a commeng to your posts.  If there is a problem you can adress it before it gets out of hand. Other times feedback will be positive – comments praising what you are doing right will keep you doing it!

7. Blogging keeps you focused.
Given all of the above reasons  for adding a bog to your website, or creating a stand alone blog, the nature of a blog means you have to keep updating your blog.  Now as you go about your day you can be thinking about your next blog topic. Simple!

No matter what your business or interest blogging  is a surefire way to market your business.

Got any comments you would like to share about your blog or blogging? Feel free to leave a comment.

Tags: Blogging by the silent avatar
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I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.

Tags: Blogging, Freebies by the silent avatar
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Finding free or low cost website advertising is not nearly as impossible as you may think. If you search the internet however you’ll discover there are several tools available to you which only require your time.

I’ve listed here are some ideas that you can use to assist you bringing traffic to your website.

1. Do a Google Search- Let me state the obvious (though surprising how often this is overlooked). Type in Google “free advertising”, and then work through first page of the results. To target your adverting put in free advertising (and then your field) eg; Free Advertising Web Design”

2.Viral Marketing is always a good way to spread your message quickly. Put together an email for your friends and ask them to pass it on to their friends, and they in turn will pass it on to their friends. This is the viral effect – just make sure your email is a good read and uses all the known elements to get people to open their emails.

3. Writing Articles can also put your promoting efforts into overdrive. It really is simple to write articles so website owners can use them for content. Try joining http://groups.google.com and http://groups.yahoo.com . A good site to check out is ezinearticles.com

Do a search for groups that accept articles for publication and follow their guidelines. You can also submit articles for free. Just Google “submit free articles” and you will be presented with a smorgasboard of links to get you going.

Do a web search for other sites whether niche or general that accept articles too. This website will help you get started. Click here (new window opens).

4. Free Ezine Advertising is another great option. Most ezine publishers will give you a free ad if you subscribe to their free ezine. Visit http://subscribeme.net You can also search for Ezine Directories where you will find scores of free publications which may have similar offers. Additionally, some ezine publishers may also feature your article if you contact them directly.

5. Write a Press Release. You can write a press release and submit it for consideration at prweb,com Newspaper reporters and other journalist are always looking for fresh news that they can publish. Research how to write a good press release to help insure your story and website info will be featured for free.

6. Start Page Traffic Exchanges can help you generate exposure to your site. You set your browser to open into the surf page then you view other sites in the exchange as others do the same. Google

7. Banner Exchanges work on the same principle. Place the exchange code on your website and earn placement of your banner on other sites within the exchange. I’m not keen on banner exchanges as I don’t like the idea of having someone else’s banner on my site (unless of course it is realted in some eay to my site and I have checked out their credibility).

8. Forums, Message Boards and Chat Rooms are excellent ways to interact with people and spread the news about your website. Search the internet for places that fit with the theme of your site. Be sure to visit sites like http://delphiforums.com. It’s a good place to start. Remember to participate in the discussions and follow the accepted form to pitch your site. SPAM only causes you problems and is best avoided.

9. Blogging can be an excellent way to promote your website and offer valuable information to surfers. Remember most people surf the internet seeking information first. As a rule of thumb providing information or relevant content will bring people searching for what you have to offer. So add a Blog to your site and keep posting content.

10. Use An Email Signature. This is a simple highly effective way to advertise your business. Create an email signature with your name/ website /and tagline incorporating a a “call to action”, ie, “Click here now to get a free XYZ to help increase your business”, or “Click here now to see my latest creations at unbelieveable prices” You get the idea? Make sure you tell (in your tagline) what your business is about.

11. Link Exchanges can help you boost traffic to your site. Try trafficswarm. Check out Google search for “traffic exchanges”. Additionally you can join a free desktop advertising exchange service here.

12. Get an optin email list. The easiest way to send your promotional material via email safely is to join an optin list. I recommend Your Lucky List

13. Spread the word through communities like Facebook, MySpace and YouTube.

As you can see, there are a variety of methods to effectively and inexpensively promote your website.

Be proactive and research ideas to help get the word out. You might be pleasantly surprised to discover promoting doesn’t cost that much if you are willing to put in the extra time and effort necessary to see that happen.

Tags: Advertising by the silent avatar
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