Why Use WordPress to Start Your Own Blog?

For quite a while, blogging has changed the internet as we know it. Websites that contain static, uninteresting content is a thing of the past. Bloggers are now a popular source of new and interesting content for online users around the globe. The blogging community is constantly evolving and changing due to a steady, infinite stream of fresh information written and published by normal people like you and me. One great thing about the blogging community is that anyone and everyone can make a contribution to it. Anyone can start blogging and submit your comments and content in no time using the best open source blogging platform available. In my opinion this is WordPress. By installing WordPress on your website, you can have a blog up and running today. If you have never heard of WordPress, you have probably seen many blogs created by this software. Many of the world's largest corporations and publications use WordPress to reach their consumers and/or readers.

If you are assuming that since a large number of major corporations are using WordPress for their blogs, and have concluded that it is probably too complex for a beginning blogger, you have assumed wrong. Since WordPress is so simple to use, and anyone can begin a blog utilizing this software. There is a reason why everyone from normal people like you and me to huge corporations have chosen WordPress is because it is simple, flexible and easy to use. It is also free. There are many benefits of choosing WordPress as your blogging platform. Below is a list of some of these:

WYSIWYG editor, save drafts, and publish now or later.

A large support community, free templates, plugins, widgets and other tools to assist you with

modifying your blog to meet your needs.

Change the entire appearance of you blog using themes with one click.

Google loves WordPress sites, which makes Search Engine Optimization a little easier.

Provides built-in RSS feed.

Categorize and tag blog posts.

Creation of static pages.

Blog talk feature.

Sell and/or recommend products to earn money. The possibilities are literally endless and the list above does not even scratch the surface of the benefits of a WordPress blog.

No matter what your needs are, starting a WordPress blog is a great place to start, especially if you do not know how to create a website and would like to share information, create an online shop, a magazine, portfolio, review site, your own auction site, etc. Like I said, the possibilities are endless. Get started at http://wordpress.org. You will need web hosting and a domain name. There are many tutorials to walk you through this simple process. You can also have WordPress host your blog by signing up at http://wordpress.com. Have a fun and successful blogging experience!

To get product recommendations, resources, tools and advice on how to start a profitable online business, visit http://www.netbusinessadvice.com/ and subscribe to my RSS feed and newsletter.

Join my Net Business Advice blog and receive a FREE complete WordPress video tutorial series that includes 22 short, simple videos that will show you step-by-step how to set up a WordPress blog. Go here to get it.

View the original article here

Why Blogging Makes Sense for Your Business

Blogging has been with us for some 10 years or so. These days anyone can easily set up a blog and start writing. So what benefit can this be to you and your business?

It's fresh content

Google loves content and especially fresh content. This will help your site's rankings and search results.

It's another marketing tool

Writing a blog gives you the opportunity to talk about your business and the products or services you offer.

Show your expertise

If you an expert in a particular area it allows you to share this expertise and knowledge with a wider audience.

Offer an opinion

Not all blogs postings will be purely about your business. You may have strong opinions on certain topics relating to your area of business that you wish to share. If there is an interest in your opinions there is the potential that they will be shared to other sites. Naturally this will lead lo links back to your site and should help the visibility of you site and business.

Link your blog to other social media.

Your blog postings can be easily shared on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social media. This gives you a potentially greater audience without having to do any further work.

So how do I do it?

There are three ways to do this. You can set up a blog on Blogger or Wordpress, two of the largest blog hosting websites. Both have free options. You can also install Wordpress on your own site and set it up yourself.

What next?

You need to start blogging. An initial post might just be an introduction to your business or to you. Try to make a list of areas you think you can talk about and see if they offer you any ideas. Also search for other blogs and see what they are talking about.

How long should my posts be?

This is a difficult question. It should be long enough to give some information but not too long so that your readers get bored. In general a post should be between 50-500 words. Over 500 words, even in a very interesting post, readers may move on to something else.

How often should I blog?

This is another $64,000 question. It can be anything from once a month to multiple posts a day. How often can you schedule time to write a blog posting? Many bloggers prefer once a week as it is easier to find time to write. Whatever you decide on you need to blog as this helps you to build an audience. As quickly as you gain readers it is hard to keep them if your blog is not updated regularly enough.

What If I can't write?

You can invite others you know who write blogs to be guest writers on your blog. You can also consider using a blog writing service. There are many such services which will provide you with new articles and blog posts.

Blogging can be personally very rewarding. It can also be a very good insight into you and your business for your readers. Blogging has the potential to reach a much larger online audience and that can only be good for your business.

View the original article here

Writing Exciting Blog Posts

Wishing your blog had more visitors? One of the best ways to attract more visitors is consistently writing exciting blog posts. Writing an exciting blog post often requires picking a fresh, original topic, including awe-inspiring images, and creating enough controversy that readers will want to discuss the blog in the comments section (you do have comments on your blog, don't you?).

Picking a Fresh, Original Topic

Picking a fresh topic might be one of the hardest aspects of writing an exciting blog post. Everything must have been written about at this point, right?

Not entirely. News happens just about every day, and provides for many great blog topics. For example, if your blog focuses on politics, flip on the TV to a news station or check out your favorite news site for the latest current events. The key to making a blog post about current events exciting is to be one of the first people to write about it. This might mean occasionally having the inside scoop on a news story, or following Twitter and forums that are constantly being updated with new information. Be careful, however; publishing a half-baked blog with news that lacks substance can easily lead to readers tearing it apart.

Being original does not always require one to be the first to write about something. Sometimes, it may simply take looking at something in a new way. For instance, if you write for a movie review blog, an exciting blog entry might examine a film in a different or unpopular way. Regardless of how many previous reviews have been dedicated to the film, a review that describes, in detail, the great cinematography in a previously unexamined scene may win over a few followers. Or, try giving a negative review to a movie that you hate but everyone else loves. By doing so, you might also benefit from another aspect of an exciting blog post: controversy.

Creating Controversy

Everyone wants to put their two cents in. Thus, it's really important to create blog entries that incite some kind of controversy or emotional response. The result is that visitors will be debating (arguing) over your blog's contents in the comments. Many times, this will result in more visitors being recruited to comment on your blog.

How does one draw controversy? For some people, especially those with extremely personal or flippant viewpoints, creating controversy comes naturally. Others really have to try to create controversy. Truly, starting a controversy is as simple as taking an unpopular side. For instance, try writing a blog about how cookies can be healthy for a health food website. If you can somehow find a way to argue this point effectively, you will definitely have an exciting blog post on your hands.

Keep in mind, controversy can be a double-edged sword, as some visitors might be offended by controversial content and stop visiting your site. Try to keep any controversial posts appropriate for your general audience.

Awe Inspiring Images

Images really help break up the wordy nature of blog entries. They provide a visual point of fixation, and, when taken well, can improve the content quality of a blog immensely.

Of course, taking a quality photograph might require a trained photographer. Using DSLRs and other high end cameras is a whole different topic. On the other hand, many sites on the internet offer photos for Fair Use for free. Flickr.com, for example, hosts a variety of user submitted photos, some of which are available for republishing. Always make sure to check a photo's licensing policy and give credit to the original publisher.

For high quality photographs, bloggers might need to pay for images at sites like GettyImages.com. Prices depend on the quality, size, popularity, and subject of the photo.

Finding an exciting photo depends on the content of your blog. Obviously, sports and landscape photos can be fairly exciting. On the other hand, if your blog focuses on more mundane topics, try taking photos of everyday objects with a bit of humor in mind. For instance, if your blog post is about awesome ties, take or find photos of ties with bizarre designs or outrageous statements on them.

Finally, always ensure that photos published to a blog have appropriate anchor text and descriptions that relate to the blog's topic. Search engines can use this data to rank your blog entries for certain keywords.

Conclusion

Writing exciting blog posts certainly takes some thought and planning, but understanding these tips may certainly help blog entries jump right off the computer screen.

For more information on blogging, please check out:

WebsiteBusiness.com

To start your own blog, visit:

AtomWord

View the original article here

Use Blogging to Grow Your Business

In the words of Microsoft's Bill Gates, information is the lifeblood of any organization or business. As an individual who runs a business, your success in business is a function of your ability to source for, utilize and disseminate information in a timely and effective manner. When it comes to building a business blog effective communication between you and your customers is something that you should emphasis on because your audience and potential clients alike would only invest in the purchase of your product if they understand what your product or service provides. Having an in-depth understanding of your product or service simply entails being able to ascertain the impact that your product or service can make in their life or business.

If you as a business owner intend on using a blog to promote your business, there are several factors that you should put into consideration. When it comes to building a business blog, it is pertinent that you understand that there is a clear-cut difference between building a business blog and building any other kind of blog. When building a business blog, the blog should have a clean, clear look and it should not look like a personal neither a pure marketing blog else your audience will not get a good impression of your business.

The theme, look, design, and layout of a business blog should carefully be chosen. When choosing a theme and template for your blog, endeavor to pick the right colors and stick with those colors that would complement your brand image and give your audience the impression that they are interacting with a brand. In terms of layout and information presentation, it is important that you should take some time to work this out because placing information in the right places does makes a great deal of difference because a blog page will look terrible if information and graphics aren't properly arranged or placed.

Although monetizing a blog is a great idea and could be a great way of making some quick bucks, monetizing your blog by displaying ads on it is something that you should never do on a business blog. If you have to monetize a business blog and like to run some ads on it, do so in moderation, because you do not want to take your audience attention away from your products or services. People hate being sold or hate being given the notion that their privacy is being compromised. Also, if you are running a business blog and have the need to send out newsletters and feeds, please do so in moderation.

Fred Lotgering is a professional Internet Marketing consultant working from multiple locations around the world. He is dedicated to help to grow small and medium sized businesses by offering a variaty of Internet Marketing tools! He is the owner of LotCon. ("LotCon" comes from Lotgering Consultancy). LotCon is registered in the Netherlands, soon also in Brazil). For more products suitable for "YOUR" business please go to: LotCon Biz Solutions Blog

View the original article here

Using Blog Content For Multiple Marketing Strategies

Creating blog content can take time and effort therefore it is always wise to find multiple uses for it within other sales and marketing strategies! Learning to utilize any unique content you have created in more ways than one will help boost your work efficiency making you more productive.

Here are 3 ways in which you can use any unique content created for your blog in other areas to help you develop your business.

Create Great Blog Updates

It starts with creating unique content people in your niche have an interest in viewing and posting this on your site. Remember the backbone of your platform will be the consistency and quality of the updates your enter so stay focused on delivering what readers want! Here is where you will take the time and invest the due diligence to conduct the necessary research necessary to provide your readers with useful information! In doing so you will ensure that they will return for more!

Build Upon Your Post

Typically a blogging update is relatively brief in terms of length and depth. By building upon the premise of one of your posts, you can easily create a unique article that reflects more depth and detail. Submitting articles is one of the most time tested and proven sales and marketing strategies used online therefore by using the core subject matter of a post you can tap into this channel as well! Remember any articles created in this way will still remain focused on your niche however you will now be circulating it through different online channels. This helps to widen your exposure by reaching those who may not have found this content by browsing through any blogging networks!

Create an Auto-Responder Series

Taking the more comprehensive material you submitted as articles, you can break each one down into smaller segments of information. Now you can take these segments and plug them into your auto-responder in an order that makes sense. By doing so you have now created an intriguing series of emails for your auto-responder! Here too, everything you compose should be relevant to your niche therefore your new email course will remain on target with list members! The increase in work efficiency you experience by reusing the same content for different applications like this will make you more productive while saving you time and energy.

Developing blog content can be a time consuming and laborious task so it makes sense when you can find other applications for it. By doing so you are able to increase your work efficiency thereby boosting your productivity as well! The 3 suggestions offered above show how you can take any unique content composed for your blog and 'reshape' it for use in other sales and marketing strategies. In doing so you are able to realize a greater return on the investment of time and effort it took to create this fresh and unique content in the first place! It is not always necessary to reinvent the wheel when simply reshaping it will work just as well and with less effort!

TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina.
For more tips about reusing your blog content and to also receive a free instructional manual that teaches valuable niche research techniques for your online marketing needs simply visit: http://affiliatequickstart.com/

View the original article here