Blog To Great

E Mail Blog Tips and Marketing in the Twitter, Facebook Age

BLOG TIPS - Marketing your blog, business or business service through email is a great method to communicate with your costumers (and gain new ones).  With so much effort devoted to marketing using social media like Twitter and Facebook, don't forget the proven email method!  And just like any other marketing campaign, email marketing needs to be used appropriately for the maximum impact.  Be ready to adjust your campaigns and review the data to make the most of your marketing effort.  Email campaigns can give you many benefits to help grow your your business.  How?, well...

Cost Effective- Email marketing is so much cheaper than typical mass media print advertising, and is also cost-effective due to the lower cost of acquiring new costumers /  blog readers.  Email also allows you to retain your existing customers while getting new ones.  There is a cost to obtaining the email marketing software or an email marketing service provider if you make the decision not to manage mailings on your own yourself.

Blog Posts Tags and Categories, Great SEO Help!

BLOG TIPS - SEO for your blog is very important to make sure that your blog posts show up in Google and rank well.  A simple but important blog SEO tool is to include both blog post tags and categories with each of your blog posts.  Nearly all blog platforms allow you the option to add categories and tags to each of your blog posts, take advantage of this option.  Simple to do?  Yes!  But I'm amazed at the number of blog posts I read that fail to include tags and categories, or fail to use the most effective and appropriate tags and categories.

SOCIAL NETWORKING Scams See Increase

No such thing as a new scam, right?  Scammers just keep updating age old bogus tricks and most of the scams have always involved giving money to people you don't know, nowadays online of course..

The interest and activity in social media has given us many innovations, and this includes innovation by clever scam artists and crooks. One of the most basic is burglars keeping an eye on social network users to figure out when homeowners will be away from home. Our great social networks are especially suited for con men and identity thieves, who use humanities inherent sense of trust and affection between friends to scam unsuspecting users.  From a new report from the New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow and the state's Acting Consumer Affairs Director Thomas R. Calcagni, who say they have seen an increase in the number of social media scams on Facebook , Twitter or other sites, often using hijacked accounts.

Continue reading @ mediapost.com

Social Networking Tips, Especially to Reach the Female Audience

Blog Tips- With both men and women using the many social networks, several studies indicate that female users far out number the guys. And, the ladies are using it right now. Recently a great report in AdAge said, “Social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are not the wave of the future. They’re the wave of the now. Especially in marketing and advertising, you simply cannot afford to be left behind as more of your colleagues, audience and, yes, competitors reach out through social networks as part of their routine strategies.”

So, how to reach the women to promote your blog or website and increase readership? Don’t just dive into the social networks without a plan. Do sufficient research about social networks, their functions and benegit and consider discussing with a marketer that knows the ins & outs of the networks and their huge audiences.

Blog Giveaway Promo Tips

BLOG TIPS - Running a giveaway promotion on your blog is great way to market your it, create some excitement for your current readers, and attrack a new audience to your blog or website. Remember, promos are the first way many readers will learn about your blog, so give it your all...

Here are some tips to make your giveaway run smoothly and maximize participation.

1. Use the Right Item - Don't be stingy.  Be generous and give away something that represents you and your blog well.  Don’t pick something because it's cheap or you have excess inventory.  You’ll get more interest, excitement and results if the item is of value and really represents what you and your blog are about.

2. "Sell" Your Free Item-   Even though you're giving away the item, you should make sure you're marketing it appropriately to your blog readers.  Use the best photo you have of the item, with a stellar discription.  And make sure you have inventory to sell to your customers.  You're telling folks how great the item is, so why not have it for sale for those that won't win. 

3. Keep It Simple -  Don't make it too difficult for your readers to enter.  Why?  Because make folks won't bother and you could do more damage than good.  You've see many blog giveaways that require readers to leave a comment in order to enter.  I've seen requirements like blogging or tweeting about the giveaway, becoming a follower or putting a “badge” on their blog. website.  Many readers will see all the requirements and decide it’s not worth the effort to enter.'

Sponsored Posts for Increased Blog Revenue

BLOG TIPS - With your blog, or blogs, up and running another money making method to consider are "sponsored posts".  There continues to be discussion over whether these type of posts are ethical, you need to decide how you feel about the issue.  Under "sponsored posts" you advertise to your readers another blog,  web site, business or a link for money.  It's certainly a touchy subject that could do harm to your blog and impact its' credibility. 

Once you determine if it's right for you and accept the arrangement only as a revenue generating system, you're able to market directly to your contacts to get paying sponsors, or use outside firms to help you find advertisers.  If you decide to go direct, you should be able to generate more revenue per post, but it does take time and effort to find sponsors to advertise on your blog or site.

TWITTER's New Location Sharing Service

BLOG TIPS - This week Twitter introduced a new location-sharing feature, which gives you the opportunity to include the location from where you're sending your tweets.  Have you signed on?  Do you want your readers to know your location?

Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder and CEO said on the company's blog."A recent burst of interest in location sharing applications, games and services has many Twitter users excited about appending geographic data to some of their tweets,"   He added that "not everyone wants to add their current location to a tweet," fortunately Twitter has turned the feature off by default, meaning you'll have to turn it on to use it. 

Consider signing on if you're blogging on local issues or using your blog to promote your indie cafe /  shop / etc.  It's a good way to reach those nearby and help them find your location. 

Your thoughts?

Links Are Great for Traffic, But Avoid These Mistakes

BLOG TIPS- We agree that linking with other bloggers is an effective way to gain blog traffic and readership but gain your links properly.  Read our list of tips below (and comment to add your advice) to avoid link problems-

1. Avoid unnatural links for your blog.  Years ago it was acceptable to link to, get links from any source.  This is now longer the case as Google and others weigh the appropriateness of your blog's links. Nowadays,  bad or inappropriate link can do more harm and in fact, lower your page ranks.  Stick with reliable blogs and sites that are in or related to your blog's niche.

2. Basic reciprocal links aren't effective.  Usually, obvious reciprocal from links.php pages or similar reciprocal scripts don't work, so save your time and efforts and don't try.  You could end up with some link partners, but the ones you'd get you should avoid anyway!

Would You Like More TWITTER Followers? Here's One Way...

BLOG TIP - With Twitter dumping its Suggested User List, now anyone has a shot at picking up followers more equally.  And, Tweetmeme has offered you some help in gaining more Twitter followers with its new Follow Me button.  Place it on your blog or Website similar to Tweetmeme’s very popular ReTweet button.  The Follow Me button says, guess what?,  “Follow” instead of “Retweet.” By clicking the Follow button, your readers will get a new window that pops up and lets them sign into their Twitter account to now follow you!  Easy, huh?

It, of course comes in different shapes and sizes and shows how many followers you have.  It's also tied into analytics services like TwitterCounter, Twitalyzer, and TwitterGrader.

Thanks, TechCrunch for alerting us! 

My Blog Guest, New Community to Find Guest Bloggers

Blog Tips - As we've mention, blogging communities and forums are plentiful, but as a great way to gain more blog traffic, you need to participate. Some are generic ones where people discuss all things blogging, while others are more focused and targeted such as, Blogher (which unites blogging women) and 20 something bloggers which pulls together bloggers between 20 and 30 years of age.

Blogger Ann Smarty recently created another community and it's specifically for folks looking for guest bloggers and / or guest blogging opportunities. She's named it My Blog Guest and if you're interested in guest blogging and plan to do it often, you should check it out.  Gest blogging is a good tool to help gain more traffic to your blog and to monetize a blog by gaining you more readers and establishing yourself as an expert in your blog niche.

Check it out and read more by Ann at her SEOsmarty.com blog.

Help Your Blog Gain More Traffic and New Readers

 Blog Tips- As blogging continues to remain popular, despite the growth of Twitter and Facebook, and new blogs are created by the thousands each day, you need to use all at your disposal to continue to reach new readers and gain more traffic. 

To help you,  here are 10 easy and quick tips to assist you in gaining more traffic for your blog-

Tip 1- Blog Comments :  You realize that your comments left at other blogs have the ability to generate targeted traffic to your blog and is an effective, legitmate linking plan.   Just locate find a blog that's related to your niche and leave worthy, positive comments. You should include a link back to your blog, so that readers who are interested can visit your blog to read more from you. Just don't spam other blogs.

Tip 2- Reciprocal Linking:  One of the most effective ways to gain appropriatem targeted traffic is by exchanging links with other bloggers or websites.  It doesn't take much effort, a simple email request for a link exchange, then follow up with the blog owner, and the results are worth it. Or, you can buy software and services tod the job, just do a search and you'll find sources.

Tip 3- Blog Directories:  Blog directories are like search engines but are viewed by readers searching for blogs.  Make sure you submit your blog to the major directories. There are also many blog services where you turn to to "ping" your blog. Pinging informs the service that you've updated your blog with new content. The service then publish your new posts and you'll get some traffic from readers interested in the topic and from search engines.

Tip 4- Writing Articles :  One of the best ways of gaining targeted, reliable and long-term traffic for blogs. When you write your own articles and placing them with article directories, you can gain a significant number of visitors at your blog. To get traffic, you have add your resource box at the end of each article you've written.  

Affiliate Marketing, Great Revenue Techniques for Your Blog

BLOG TIPS - Certainly a popular method for bloggers to make money, affiliate marketer is one of the most effective ways to advertise online and is one of the easiest ways for you to make a profit online. Affiliate
Marketing is a simple agreement between a merchant and a blogger, the affiliate, to allow the use of the blog for the promotion of the merchant’s products.  It's accomplished by a simple link to the merchant’s website.

For that, the merchant will pay you a commission on all of the sales generated by your blog / site. Every time a reader clicks on the link on your blog and makes a purchase you'll earn your  commission.

Affiliate marketing programs are said to be win-win situations for both the merchant and the affiliate (blogger) because of the pay-for-performance arrangement. Both the merchant and the affiliate get some benefits in the affiliate marketing deal. For the merchant, they get a wider market and more prospective customers for their product or service.  The more affiliate sites a merchant has, the higher the traffic their product / service gets which may become actual sales.

Blogging Isn't All Good, Sometimes It Sucks

Blog Tips -  We've all read the numerous but great Top Ten lists with tips on how to blog better and most important, more profitably.  The lists keep coming and the top bloggers keep blogging and advising others.  Rarely do people address the other side of blogging - how boring, difficult and tiring it can be. In fact, blogging often sucks!

If you've been blogging long enough in order to earn some money from it, you've noticed that it can easily be a drain on your life.  But like any new business, long hours and little money are the best you can expect at the beginning of your venture.  As a good blogger you feel the pull of your blog and the need to consistantly post new content.  This is good for your blog and for your future as a pro blogger, but can negatively impact the other areas of your life (you still have a life, right?). 

You may also find your spending way too much time coming up with ways to promote your blog.  Great, get the word out and promote your blog but use your time wisely and target where you can have the most impact.

Keep your goal to have your blog stay natural.  By this I mean not to force your blog too hard.  Readers can tell thru your writing and blog design and friends will fall away from you if you're only "about the blog".  If you're not careful any success you gain won't be worth the price. 

Ben Barden' recently posted on the Top Ten Reasons why Blogging Sucks, check it out @ TopTenBlogTips.com.

Blog Opportunity- MakingMoneyOnLine.com For Sale !!

Blog News- Wow!, one of the best and catchiest domains (and blog); MakingMoneyOnLine.com is for sale! Doug Dillard and partner Mark Smith recently made the decision to unload MakingMoneyOnline.com and the entire package of .net .org that they own.  It's rare that such a powerful domain/blog becomes available, so check into if you want an established blog that's ready to go.   Doug recently said about the decision: “Instead of just letting this beautiful website and domain name just sit here and get stale, we have decided to sell it and let someone else build it to its potential”. Read Famous Bloggers interview with Doug at NewMediaBloggers.com.

If You're Considering Buying MakingMoneyOnLine, this is what you'll get-

1. A premium, established (12 year old) domain name and the dotnet and dotorg extensions
2. Great content
3. Wide range of readers
4. Newsletter subscribers (# tbd)
5. Well designed and professional theme
6. A profitable blog already earning money!

More @ MakingMoneyOnLine.com and FamousBloggers.com  

Article Marketing Tips to Increase Your Blog's Traffic

BLOG TIPS - One very effective way to increase your blog's web traffic is through the use of article marketing.  Hundreds (maybe more) article database websites are available to you.  They're filled with articles on any topic that you can think of, so finding content approprite to your blog or website is easy, and conversely, you can place your article for distribution.  You should consider leveraging article marketing to help your blog or website build your web traffic and increase your status as an "authority" in your niche.

The top article websites have solid pageranks,  so if your article is written properly it can get a good listing and distribution.  This way, it will get a higher listing in search engine results because of the site's rank.  But if your keyword or niche is too competitive or if many high ranking blogs are out there, and you won't likely rank high enough, so using article websites can help you get an improved listing in search engine results.