A good working definition of a blog is simply a journal or newsletter that is frequently updated and intended for the timely reading.
It often provides opportunities for unfiltered and immediate feedback, sports an informal or even partisan attitude, and is written in a more personal style than traditional press outlets.
Blogs come in all shapes and subjects, from the maunderings of troubled teen souls to displays of classical photography to breaking news and commentary.
They can be online journals, locked with a password shared by a few trusted friends, or they can be page after page of source code, sharing useful and free computer programs with the world.
A blog may be an online journal tangential to a company’s main business, where users of a company’s products give feedback and ask for help. Blogs can be hosted by single individuals, shared by teams, or produced by entire companies.
They may be hosted on a dedicated blog server using fancy templates or lovingly hand-crafted in HTML on a page that resembles a bulletin board.
But a blog is not simply a syndicated column or a newspaper that is online. Many news outlets feature their content online and even allow readers to respond to stories.
However, the newspaper’s business does not change just because it has a new medium. Editors and writers still do the same jobs they did before the advent of online distribution; the newspaper does not view itself as any different from what it always was.
And perhaps therein lies the difference: attitude.
The newspaper sees itself as presenting all the news that’s fit to print, written by objective professionals, while the blogger sees himself as presenting a piece of his own world and his own expertise from his own perspective.
As blogs become more popular, more columnists are becoming bloggers and more bloggers are becoming professional in what they write. Perhaps in a few years, the distinction between the Old Media and the New will be irrelevant in the mind of writers; for many readers today, it already is.
The number of individual blogs has topped 20 million and readership is exploding.
In fact, the trade magazine Ad Age reports that during 2005 alone, American workers will spend the equivalent of 551,000 years reading blogs, rumor sheets, and online diaries.
Hundreds of millions of readers worldwide get their news and entertainment from these independent sources, supporting their favorite bloggers through donations, link usage, and purchase of blog-related memorabilia.
A Blog Is And Is Not
What Blogging Can Do For Your Business
There is certainly nothing new about the concept of blogging, and yet many business owners and Internet entrepreneurs don’t seem to grasp the power of this simple strategy. This is evidenced by the fact that many business websites do not include a blog.
If you run a business site, but do not currently have a blog, there is a great chance that you are leaving money on the table. Regardless of what kind of business you are in, a dynamic and interactive web log will improve customer response and add profits to your bottom line.
Consider this:
When you use a web log as the platform for your newsletter or ezine, you can post each of your promotions to the web, and then invite your subscribers to your blog to view your most recent update. When readers follow the link from your email to your latest blog post, they will not only have the opportunity to respond to the current promotion, they will be able to browse your blog and take action on offers you made last week, last month, even last year.
Quite often when I mail my list about my latest blog post, I end up making new sales on a promotion I did some time ago. And since my blog is linked to all of my other web sites, it’s easy for me to generate traffic for multiple products and services with just one mailing.
And blogging is a great way to generate new web traffic for your domain. By setting your blog software to ‘ping’ search and directory portals each time you make a post, you can alert a large number of people about your new content with the single click of a button.
Also, search engines are more likely to spider your site on a regular basis if you update your content frequently. With blog software, making changes to the text on your web pages is as simple as sending an email; you just fill in a subject line and post body, and then click ‘submit’.
You can even configure your blog so readers are able to leave comments and questions about your articles. They don’t have to take the time to send you an email, they can just click on the comments link and post their feedback right there on the spot. This is one of the easiest ways possible to encourage productive interaction among your prospects and customers.
Blogging requires no special technical knowledge. Sure there is an advanced side to this marketing strategy, but just adding a web log to your domain and making posts on a regular basis can improve your traffic flow and customer response tremendously.
Where To Get Content For Your Blog
Blogs and websites that have rich content are always going to do better than those that don’t. I am sure you wondered where these blogs get their ideas, views and opinions. It is easy to write about something you are passionate about- but to do that most days of the week is extremely hard, since you would probably run out of things to talk about or you simply don’t have the time. So how do they do it? Where do they get their ideas? Do they get help from tools and other sources available on the Internet?
The best way would be to provide the content yourself, and this is of utmost importance if your goal is to try to create traffic to an affiliated link. You’ll definitely want to sell the idea about the services and products beforehand. What that will do is set the stage or the “mood” and give your recommendations authenticity.
Expounding on the uses of a particular service or product, with your own likes and dislikes, achieves this naturally. With an affiliate program, it is a good idea to have a personal anecdote that goes hand in hand with the product or service.
Using private label articles is a viable alternative. PL articles abound in the Internet and you can always buy some that are connected to your central topic and then place them in your blog. One way of maximizing a purchased PLA is to cut it down into several pieces, thereby maximizing its content.
Utilizing RSS feeds to post on blogs is becoming very popular, although not everyone is familiar or willing to learn about RSS feeds. The advantage to an RSS feed is that your blog is automatically updated with fresh news and content. The disadvantage is that it is not unique content and that anybody interested in the feed will likely click out on a story that appeals to them.
Putting in your very own content is the best way to go. One way to find fresh ideas is to look for an appealing news article and then do a summary write-up based on it. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but you and your readers will find it the most rewarding way. If you feel that you just don’t cut it as a writer or you genuinely don’t have the time, then hire someone else to do it for you. There are many services out there who provide a “blog service” which includes daily posts of unique, engaging content and you can instruct these content writers as to where you want the links in your blog pointing to- so that any burden of cost in terms of hiring them should be offset by the gains in your increased visitor base, the marketing of your other websites and earnings from your affiliate programs.
should use blogs and RSS feeds
Blogs and RSS feeds are great marketing tools! Now, if you're like me, you're probably scratching your head and saying, "Wonderful, but what in the world is a blog, and what the heck does an RSS feed?" Let's make it quick and simple.
A blog is basically a journal or diary that is kept online. It changes every day as you add new content. An RSS feed is a little more involved. RSS (usually referred to as Really Simple Syndication) is a means to publish regular updates to web content. The content itself is known as the feed. In other words, RSS feeds are a great way to get information that changes often (for example blogs or even news headlines) out on the web to an amazingly large audience.
Now to answer the question, why should you use blogs and RSS feeds? Numbers, numbers, numbers! Let's think about it. When more people view your site, you will make more sales - obviously. Of course, the trick is to get them to your site. While you sit there reading this article, there are search engines silently exploring cyberspace for new or updated web content. Aha! When you update your blog and use RSS feeds, your new information will be noticed by these tireless search engines and published across the World Wide Web. Hey, it's free advertising, right?
Anita was excited! She finally had her own website and an ebook on the market. Her enthusiasm was a source of amusement to her friends and family. Every lull in a conversation was an opening for Anita to discuss her new enterprise. Though Anita netted a lot of good natured eye-rolling and teasing, she knew they were all proud of her. It wasn't long before Anita's enthusiasm began to wane. After all, what good was an ebook if nobody bought it?
She'd tried buying email lists and sending advertisements out, but it didn't seem to earn any profit. Why? Spam filters, like virtual pac-men, were gobbling up the emails that Anita sent. In reality very few were ever even opened.
Have you, like Anita, been frustrated at the lack of web traffic your site receives? Follow the example of hugely successful sites like Yahoo!, CNET, ABC News,and Amazon. Get on the RSS feed band wagon and share in the success. Join the masses of bloggers who are posting personal and professional blogs. Write your way to success.
Why using blog to earn money online?
This question has been around for many times. Here we will tell you the reasons why using blog to earn money
1. You must not be an HTML expert
The biggest problem to earn money from internet is HTML knowledge to design website. Blog comes as a solver problem for this matter. Most of you have to do just type what you like and let the system work for you toe display it in a webpage format.
2. Keep the content fresh
Blog is similiar to online jurnal. Like you write your activiy in your diarybook, and you write it often even daily. The reader also requires frequently updated blog then seldom, because it is useful information for them.
3. Search engine optimize blog frequently
Search engine love fresh content.
4. Blog creates A Built-In Linking Structure
Blog always creates linking between old and new post. This condition is one of tool search engine optimization.
5. You Can Keyword-Optimize Your Blog Extensively
All parts of your blog's template can be customized. And a very powerful way to do it is by inserting relevant keywords. It's a do-it-once job that will give you ongoing benefits for as the life of your blog. You can include keywords in your blog title, description, blog post headings, trackback links, comment invitations, archive titles, and category names. By doing this you can optimized your blog, and also can earn money from blog
6. You Create An Online Community
If your blog is on a specific theme, you can build a loyal readership and develop an online community. You can even take it a notch higher by tying it in with a forum or membership site. Ask for comments, suggestions, ideas and feedback, or invite reader participation. Pretty soon, your blog will be growing organically - even if you don't write a lot! And you have a traffic for your site.
7. You Can Syndicate Your Content Easily
Getting readers for your content is good. Getting your content out where many more readers can see it is GREAT! Syndication (via RSS feeds) is built in to most blogging platforms, giving you a quick and easy way to get a wide readership for your blog posts.
Proxy Lists
A proxy list is a list of all the working proxy websites. A proxy website is a website which lets you surf anonymously and it allows you to access the websites which have been blocked by a content filter.
How does this work –
A proxy website allows you to enter the URL of the website which you wish to surf and once you’ve entered the URL, the proxy website displays the target website in a special window. In this way, your real IP address, location are not revealed to the website and you can access it even if it is blocked by the network administrator. You can interact with the website in real-time just like the way you would have interacted with it if it was not blocked on your network.
The only known problem associated with the proxy websites is that they’ve a small life as other websites block the proxy websites to avoid anonymous surfing. So, it’s important to maintain a regularly updated proxy list in order to get the information about the working proxy websites.
PDA Maintenance And Security
A greatly overlooked element of owning a PDA is that you actually need to take care of them if you want them to last. For most people this will mean two things – getting some software protection for your PDA and getting it a physical case to stop it getting knocked around.
As everyone knows, desktop and laptop computers need to be protected with firewalls and antivirus software. With so much malware, spyware and adware around it is pretty much a necessity. Unfortunately the same thing has to be done for your PDA. A good money saving tip is to search for software that can be used on both your computer and your PDA. There are tons of options available with Avast4 PDA Edition and Airscanner software both being very popular choices for protecting PDAs. Installing this software should be very high on your agenda when getting a new PDA as an unsecured device is just as vulnerable to attack as an unsecured PC.
The other thing you will need to consider is some physical protection for your PDA. The fact is that PDAs will get knocked around a lot in general use (even more if you are a PDA addict!). For this there are luckily an incredible amount of choices. You can go with a soft case or a hard case. The choice should really depend on how heavily you use the PDA – with heavier users perhaps being well-advised to stick with hard cases. Soft cases are fine for general users, but obviously they will not stand up to the same level of abuse as a hard case. Of course having a cool looking case is important too! Luckily there are no shortage of funky cases either!
By protecting your PDA both physically and from a software point of view you will extend its effective life significantly. As with any investment it is wise to protect it and get your money’s worth!
Top 7 Advantages Of Autoresponder Services
By paying a modest monthly fee, you can have unlimited, sequential autoresponders working for you. Here are seven advantages of using paid autoresponder services.
1. Sequential Autoresponders
Although many web hosts offer unlimited autoresponders, each autoresponder is only capable of sending one response. With the use of sequential autoresponders from a paid autoresponder service you could, for example, send a seven-part e-mail course.
2. Build Customer Relationships
Building business relationships with paid autoresponder services can increase your sales. Marketing experts generally seem to agree that a person needs to be exposed to your message multiple times before they respond or buy. If someone subscribes to your autoresponder because of their interest in a subject, you can then supply them with helpful information on a regular basis. Thus, you establish trust and a relationship with your prospective customers. When they trust you, they are more likely to act on your recommendations and buy from you.
3. Tracking Capabilities
The built-in tracking capabilities of paid autoresponder services can lead to more effective advertising campaigns. You can track all the clicks made from your newsletters and autoresponders and can even run split tests to see which ads or offers appeal to your subscribers.
4. Deliverability
Paid autoresponder services cultivate relationships with major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and online services. It is in their (and your) best interests that your e-mails get through and they work very hard to achieve high deliverability. Some services supply a spam test to show you how spam filters would rate your e-mail. If your spam rating is too high, you can edit your e-mail to improve deliverability.
5. Protection from False Accusations of Spam
Since all e-mails you send using a paid autoresponder service are hosted on their servers, you are insulated from false accusations of sending spam (unsolicited commercial e-mail).
6. Compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act
As well, compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, United States Public Law 108-187) is ensured by the paid autoresponder services. They make sure that legally required information is sent on each e-mail sent.
7. Flexibility and Scalability
You are not limited to one website with a paid autoresponder service. Create unlimited autoresponders and newsletters on multiple domains. Your monthly fee doesn't change as your business grows.
