Blogging To Success

Posted by Salman khan

It's a proven fact that search engines love blogs. The question we should ask ourselves is why do they love blogs? It's pretty simple, search engines love to search and find new quality content. It is their goal to index high quality information as quickly as possible. If you've not been blogging then you've been missing out on an incredible opportunity to bring instant traffic to your website. The key to blogging is to update regularly, as just creating a blog and having no updates or content is useless. You need to update your blog several times per week to really reap the benefits.

Setting up your first blog

There are many free sites on the internet that will allow you to create your own blog and they will host it for you. I prefer to host my own blog, but I'm going to explain both options you have for blogging. I'll first start by providing the options for Free Blog Hosting.

Free Blog Hosting Sites

1) Blogger.com

This site is one of the most if not the most popular free blog hosting site. You can instantly create a blog and start writing on various topics. The positives about using Blogger.com are that it is spidered often, and your blog link will be in the path of the spider, enabling your new blog to be spidered quickly. Once your blog is spidered, the search engines will continue to visit your blog for updates.

Signup link: http://www.blogger.com/

2) Journalhub.com

This is a newer site, not as popular, but is a very solid choice for blog hosting. Your account is setup instantly.

Signup link: http://journalhub.com/summary.php?op=RegisterStep0

3) Aeonity.com

This site also gives you the ability to create an instant blog site.

Signup link: http://www.aeonity.com/

4) Ebloggy.com

This site also allows free blog hosting.

Signup link: http://www.ebloggy.com/

You can register with any of the above sites to start your own blog, but as I mentioned earlier I prefer to have my own site host my blog. Another option is to have two blogs. My recommendation would be to create what I like to call a sub-blog, where the blogger.com blog would be a blog you update from time to time that discusses topics dealing with your main blog. You should have links pointing from your blogger.com blog to your main blog site. The reason you are doing this is because blogger.com is spidered often and by default your blog with blogger.com, which is your sub-blog will also be spidered. Since your sub-blog will have links to your main blog it can also aid in having your main blog site spidered more quickly.

Hosting Your Own Blog

Hosting your own blog gives search engines a reason to keep revisiting your website. It is important as I mentioned before that you update your blog several times per week. Below you'll find some recommended free software for hosting your own blog.
WordPress
All my blogging sites use WordPress as I believe it is the best blogging script available. It's very easy to install and you can go live within just a few minutes.
Download: http://wordpress.org/download/
By default WordPress gives you the ability to choose if you want Search Engine Friendly URLS for your blog, but I've taken that a step further. You will only be able to follow the instructions I'm giving below if you already have WordPress installed.
If you have WordPress installed add this line of code to your "Permalinks" section:
/%postname%.htm
Input the above code into the line that says "Custom Structure" and ensure that you have the check placed in the "Custom, specify below" under Common Options.
What this does is give your blog highly optimizable search engine friendly URLS. Every blog post you make will have a keyword rich URL based on the subject of your blog. For example if your blog post was "Caribbean Recipes" your URL would be http://yoursite.com/caribbean-recipes.html.
It's a nice handy trick to get more search engine friendly URLS out of WordPress to ensure that your keywords appear not only in the subject but also in the page URL.

Blogging Themes

Now that you've got your blog setup, I know that by default WordPress skin may not be too pleasing to you. Let's change that by installing a new theme. The sites below offer some free themes that you can use and customize.
WordPress Themes Viewer
http://themes.wordpress.net/
Alex Kings' Theme Viewer
http://www.alexking.org/index.php?content=software/wordpress/themes.php
Kaushal Sheth's Themes
http://www.kaushalsheth.com/themes/
Theme Porter
http://www.themeporter.com/tags/themes/
Browse through those four websites and select a theme that you like best. You simply download the theme and upload it to your wp-content themes directory, then activate the theme in the admin area of Wordpress under presentations.



Blog Pinging
Here's one of the reasons I believe that WordPress is a great option for blogging. WordPress has a built in "Ping" option that will notify all the major blogging and RSS feed directories that you've made a new post on your blog. This is automatically activated in the "Writing" section of Word Press. If you scroll to the bottom of the "Writing" section you will see a section called "Update Services".

Below that you will see a URL link: http://rpc.pingomatic.com/.

Whenever you make a post on your blog, this option sends out a notification to all the blogging directories that you have made a new post and they usually automatically index it. Each time you make a post this ping is automatically done ensuring that your feed is sent.

Blogging Regularly

Now that we've got the theme setup, the URLs for all your posts being search engine friendly, your pings being automated, the next step is to start blogging. Here comes the tough part, what am I blogging about? It's important that your blog be about something you actually have knowledge on, and can write about fluently. For example if your site is about recipes, you can have your blog posts related to anything about recipes, perhaps experiences you have had while preparing dishes, etc.
When blogging remember you must be very personable, friendly and seem easy to talk to. The reason for this is that with each post you make you are trying to elicit a response from users. With WordPress you have the option to enable comments. By having comments on your blog enabled, it increases your popularity rating. The search engines will visit and update your blog more often as it is constantly changing by having new content. I recommend that in each blog post you make, that you always ask questions, request feedback to ensure that the people viewing your blog find a reason to actually post a comment.


Successful Blogs
The best way to learn how to have a successful blog is to review other blogs that are proven success stories. To do this I recommend that you visit a site called Bloglines.com
Link: http://www.bloglines.com/dir
Do a search to find blogs that are similar to your blog and review each to see what they are doing. It's easy to tell if a blog is doing well by how often they are updating and how many comments each blog post receives.
Blog Links
Take another trip back to Bloglines.com/dir and do a search again for blogs within a similar genre as your blog but not necessarily identical. Start replying to some of the blog posts made, giving your thoughts about the post or topic. Do this a few times with various blogs, then once you've done it on a regular occasion end your post with a signature link that goes to your site. Take note do *NOT* do this in the initial stages or with your first post. You must first acquire a relationship with the blogs, first by posting comments and leaving positive feedback. After gaining trust you can simply place a link with your next post comment. I recommend replying at least 5 to 10 times before attempting to place a link.
Blog Commenting
When you've first started your blog as I mentioned prior, comments help your blog look more active. Initially you may find that users may not post comments to your blog. It's going to be up to you to get things going. Have your friends or family members start leaving comments on your blog as it can make your blog seem more active. People like to see activity; if your blog seems dead you'll likely get no responses. If you would rather not have your family even know about your blog, then you can post comments yourself but as a "Guest" or as registered user instead of admin. Respond to your own posts initially to create activity, then you'll start to see other real users placing comments as well.
What usually works best is to leave a controversial comment. Start making comments that are guaranteed to elicit a response. I've created "characters" before that post controversial statements on my blog to really get user interest going. This "character" may disagree with a blog posting I made, creating a sequence of posts that increase the activity comments of my post. Once you see that users have taken interest in your blog you can now rely on their posts rather than creating fake ones of your own.
Remember if you are going to do fake comment posts, to space the timing between posts. For example never post two minutes after you've posted as admin, as it's too obvious that you're the same person. Allow some time to pass by before making your "fake user comments post".
If you would rather not do the "fake posts" yourself, some bloggers have actually paid users to reply to posts on their blog. If you go to popular webmaster forums, you'll find that users get paid for making posts on forums. The usual rate is about .10 cents per post or something within that range. The same theory applies for blog comments. You can hire a set of 10 to 20 people to comment on your posts and pay them a small fee, this way you generate some interest in your blog.
If you post a project on the sites I mentioned previously such as Scriptlance.com or Getafreelancer.com for "Blog Posters", you can find people who can get your blog active, by making comments and paying them a small fee. You can do this until you get users posting on your site in reply to the posters you have paid. Within a few weeks your blog should be very active. This benefits you in the long run as the search engines will be visiting your site often due to the constant updates.

Blogging Directories

A great way to promote your blog is to have it indexed in the blogging directories. I've listed below the most popular directories that you can submit your new blog to.

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Email Marketing Intro

Email Marketing Intro

Posted by Salman Khan

Email marketing can be extremely effective – not only in strengthening a brand image, but also in making sales. Businesses use email marketing both internally and externally to generate new customer leads, create brand recognition and awareness, improve customer relationships, cross and up-sell to existing customers, improve website traffic, educate and support customers, promote events and generate product sales. When compared to traditional direct mail, the cost benefit alone offers the greatest advantage. Consider the cost of print, postage and other production factors to realize the value gained. To make email marketing even more attractive, email marketing improves the speed of delivery, offers stronger controls over message delivery and measurably converts to sales.

Peter A. Johnson, Ph.D., Director and Senior Economist, Strategic Information Unit in white paper “Preserving The Promise of The E-mail Marketplace: An Economic Assessment of The Proposed Federal DO-NOT-E-Mail Registry” states: “Based on US Census Bureau data for total e-commerce from 2003, DMA research estimates that already some 14% of the $138 billion Internet commerce marketplace for 2003 was driven by commercial e-mail. This translates into an excess of $19 billion spent in response to commercial e-mails in 2003. Again however, it is important to bear in mind that the Census Bureau E-Stats program has not yet released its first measurements on the value of e-commerce in the vitally important services sector. Since these purchases include many airline tickets and other forms of travel, hotel accommodation and car rentals, etc., that although initiated by an e-mail advertisement, may have been purchased via 800 number and thus not be categorized as e-commerce by the Census Bureau, it is likely this figure significantly understates the true impact of e-mail marketing.” The numbers, combined with the total cost to run a successful email marketing campaign, is unmatched.

In each relationship nurtured with email marketing, there are two sides– the sender and the receiver. The sender wants to reach the audience and promote the most positive image they can. They also want to reinforce their services or products in a way to increase sales and visibility. How can they accomplish this? They need to draw up a clear portrait of their consumer. Answer the following questions:

•    What are the audience demographics – age, education, sex, geography and income?
•    What are the audience’s interests and pastimes?
•    How busy is the audience and how frequently would they appreciate emails?
•    What would appeal to the audience – discounts, information, news or product updates?
•    What value can the business offer the consumer or target audience?

With an understanding of the person behind the email address, marketers may devise a program that appeals to their needs. Then it’s recommended companies reevaluate and review success and results of the email marketing program on a regular basis to fine-tune the tactics.

In spite of government regulation, email marketing is growing. According to DoubleClick's Q4 2003 email survey, deliverability and open rates grew one percent, while click-through rates grew five percent year-over-year.

Eric Kirby, vice president and general manager of strategic services at DoubleClick, expects the industry to survive emerging obstacles: "There are two fundamental drivers behind this: 1) Consumers understand and value permission based e-mail relationships and differentiate these from spam and 2) leading companies are evolving their e-mail programs faster than the environment is becoming more difficult. In other words, they are keeping ahead of the challenges in many respects."

Content and Creative
Email marketing comes in a two formats with content variety – from informative newsletters to discount advertising and specials. Marketers can use one or many varieties of content styles depending on their target audience.

Newsletters are preferred over other media formats. In fact, a new study conducted by Internet Usability expert Jakob Neilson revealed that 11 percent of newsletters were read start to finish. Newsletters reinforce the brand, communicate with customers, build relationships with users and build word of mouth when forwarded to friends and colleagues. To work as intended, though, the information must be timely, useful and brief.

Sign-up for newsletters or promotional email should be quick and simple. When offering a newsletter, link to a sample so the visitor knows what they’re signing up for. Provide privacy policy information that reinforces the integrity and their safety. If sharing data with other companies, offer an obvious checkbox to opt-in to this use. This increases visitor trust and shows respect their preferences.

Newsletters should be scannable, infrequent, informative, convenient and timely. While 11 percent were found to read the complete newsletter contents, many more jump headline-to-headline seeking content relevant to their situation. Scanners ranked 57 percent in the same study, while 22 percent never read the newsletter and 10 percent held it for later reading.

Send newsletters that offer current and timely information, not just general information they can acquire through other sources. For instance, inform the readers about prices and sales, events, important dates and deadlines, work-related news or activities in their own company or information about their personal interests and hobbies.

Email promotions should be of specific interest to the recipient. Bring time-pressing information such as limited-time only sales, new product introductions or Internet-only promotions. Don’t overuse this privilege and always remove emails that opt-out.

Titles, Microcontent and Subject Lines

Email newsletters should be concise and to-the-point. There is no room for long-winded or clever headlines. Readers rarely spend time sorting through this writing style on their screen. Instead, explain the article clearly and include an ultra-short abstract of the content of the article. This helps the recipient decide if they’ll delve deeper or not. Avoid teasers to attract reader attention. Too often, this writing style is used in SPAM email and recipients have learned to click delete when they see this in an email.

Subject lines should be scannable. Think of the inbox view when received. Avoid leading words like “the” or “a”, though these can be used in the email body itself. Realize titles may be sorted by subject line. Strive to stay at the top of the list. The first word should be the most information-packed item of the subject, such as a name, company or concept. This facilitates inbox scanning. Nevertheless, common identification words, such as the business name, should be left to the end. For example: Weed control: Gardners Outlet.

The “from” field develops the customer relationship and reduces the chance of the communication being confused (and deleted) with SPAM.

HTML vs. Text Formatting

HTML email marketing can measurably save time and impress prospects by becoming the welcoming brochure. When receiving a lead from an individual who'd like more information, send a professionally design email brochure leading them to the website with everything from services to prices and hours of operation. HTML email newsletters may enhance customer communications by announcing specials, listing tour dates, promoting new releases or offering informative articles.

•    Here are some guidelines for effective HTML email marketing.

•    Require proactive newsletter subscription and honor all remove requests immediately.

•    Format emails with HTML, as these performed markedly better on average and generated click-through of 11 percent, compared to only 6 percent for text (DoubleClick).

•    Send communications from the main email account. 60 percent of DoubleClick study respondents cited the ‘from’ line moved them to open an email.

•    Use a discount or news related subject line. 35 percent of study respondents cited the subject line in motivating them to open an email. While men are more apt to open news related subject lines, women are attracted to discounts. An astonishing 70 percent cited a discount, as the most compelling motivational factor for making an immediate purchase after clicking an email (DoubleClick).

•    Keep it brief and scannable. Newsletter subscribers like to stay current, but rarely have time to read an email novel.

•    Target the four main newsletter values cited, according to usability guru Jakob Nielsen. Recipients want to see: 1.) work-related news and/or activities in their company or other companies; 2.) prices and sales; 3.) personal interests and hobbies; and 4.) events, deadlines and important dates.

The most important thing for the business is upholding its value and reputation by sticking to Internet marketing best practice. CAN-SPAM adherence is covered later in the legal issues chapter.

The basic bread-and-butter rules for responsible email are:

•    Honest subject lines
•    Accurate header information
•    Physical street or mailing address
•    Clear, honored opt-out method

Developing A List
Developing an opt-in list is the best way to acquire targeted leads. While many firms rent opt-in email lists, these should be used with caution in light of recent federal spam regulations. These can also be pricey, significantly decreasing the ROI.

The website should have a clear and obvious method for subscribing supported by the privacy policy that reinforces the business ethics and integrity. Sign-up should require minimal click and send a confirmation to the recipient upon sign-up. Double opt-in is the preferred subscription method by most website hosting providers, who can become one more obstacle to Internet marketers in reaching their target audience. Double opt-in simply means the recipient must confirm their subscription through email verification, signing up once on the site and twice through the email confirmation. This protects individuals from receiving email that others signed them up for.

To developing an opt-in list, include a sign-up option on the website, offer current clients the option to join during checkout and add a sign-up book at the checkout counter of each physical store location. Be creative, but always gather and retain records of, customer’s request to join. Though growing an opt-in list takes time, the audience is tightly targeted, familiar with the products or services and open to receiving information.

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