Blog To Great

Steve Jobs is NOT Dead - Don't Make this Mistake !

    With the internet buzzing about Bloomberg running Steve Jobs obituary by mistake on Thursday, the recent speculation about the health of Apple boss Steve Jobs (which is a concern to many computer buffs as the computer firm's success is directly linked to Jobs being in charge) makes for a good case study of how NOT to blog. The Bloomberg story was incomplete, it was obvious to most that it was been posted by mistake, and Bloomberg quickly took it down, but not before many websites and blogs noticed and grabbed the mistaken obit for all to read.

Yaro Starak Interview- Blogging for a Six Figure Income

     BLOG TIPS-  We all want to believe that it's possible to start a blog from scratch, and build it into a six figure income.  Are you willing to do what it takes ??  Well, Yaro Starak believes it can be done, and blogger Ray Edwards has posted an interview with Starak that I want to share with you.   Yaro talks about developing your quality niche blog into a full-time income source in this interview. It's something that we should all listen carefully and pick up advice. Yaro is from Australia and failed with his first blog “Because it was terribly boring”.  His found his "true" niche when he realized that he was passionate about entrepreneurship, and enjoyed writing about it.  As I said before, Write about What you Know and Love What You Write!  Your readers can tell when you believe in your writing, AND when you don't.  It comes through in every word you type.  Without the passion for your topic, the creative spark isn't there.   Yaro stresses bloggers have to avoid “junky blogging”, and claims that it’s possible to operate a successful full-time money maker blog working on two hours per day!  See full article and interview, here on Ray Edwards great blog. 

After you read the whole interview, let us know your blogging passion by commenting belwo.  Listen to Yaro, and Blog To Great in all you do !!!  And, Please Stumble !!!

Google Suggest Can Help You Blog Better

     Check out Google's latest update to its search engine -  "Google Suggest".  It tries to save you time by guessing your searches as you're entering.  It's is now turned on by default when you search at Google.  But It's not as "big brotherly" as you might think.  The suggestions they offer up are based on search popularity among all Google users, not only you!  But it does tell a lot about Google users and what they are looking for.  Topics like how to get rich, have sex, lose weight, and stalk celebrities appear high on the lists.  But I see this feature as a good way to come up with post topics, you can use this feature to help come up with new ideas.  Put is your word and see what comes up as choices.  It may surprise you what people are searching for and give you some insight for your next post or new blog.  Inventive, helpful posts are one of the main keys to your blogs success. Play around with this new tool and see how you can make use of it for some cool ideas.

Will You Beat the Best Blogs? Ten Tips to Help

     One of the blogs at the Wall Street Journal, Independent Street, ran a great post recently, entitled, Independent Coffee Shops Don’t See Starbucks as Threat Anymore.  Do you view popular blogs as a threat??? Whether or not your independent business is a coffee shop, dry cleaner or blog, you can learn from this piece.  I ask you to look at your blog and compare it to the biggies of the blogworld -  you know who they are.  What's the difference between their blog and yours???  They've done it longer, know more people, have more readers, shout about their blog more ???  Is there anything you can't do or learn that they do?  NO. The big difference, is that most of them, but not all, take chances and try new things.  No matter what your niche, you can rise above if you care more and want it more!  Whatever your goal for blogging is, more readers - respect in your specialty, money, fame - no blogger that has it now can prevent you from reaching your goal.  ONLY you can stop you.  Don't let it happen.  Use these tips below to keep growing your blog....

Another Popular Blog for Sale

     Another great way to get into blogging is to purchase a blog that is already operational and has good content.  This way you don't have to spend time creating the blog and its design.  Instead, just make your deal, take it over and start posting!  I bring this up, because the popular "advice" blog, PureBlogging is up for sale at Sitepoint.  Current bid, with three days to go is $2800.  The blog has been quiet lately, so I'm not surprised that it's up for sale.  BtG is not involved in this deal, I just thought you should know about it in case you're interested.  If you do pick it up, let us know how it goes...

Pay Per Click Tips (PPC) in the New Age of Blogging

     In the current world of blogging, it's way too easy to waste your money with PPC. But you don't have to throw more money at pay-per-click then necessary.  With some planning and a little extra hard work your PPC can generate revenue for you.  For many reasons, the cost of pay-per-click ads on search engines continues to rise.  Competition for key words is greater and often fellow bloggers, large & small businesses, shopping sites, affiliates and ad publishers are after the same keywords. With so many working against you, you may wonder if PPC is worth it?  I say yes it is, because it's still a great way to reach on-line consumers, but you have to operate with a much a smarter search strategy. Here are a few tips to reduce your ad costs and reach new customers for your blog and/or service-

BlogWorld Expo Will Be Here Soon

     BLOGGING REMINDER - What are your plans for BlogWorld & New Media Expo, Sept 19-21 in Las Vegas ?   Are you attending? If you're serious about blogging, want to expand your reach and make new contacts, you should be going to Vegas for this fun and informative event.  It's the only industry-wide blogging tradeshow that's dedicated to blogs, bloggers and blogging as well as new media.  It will offer bloggers and business owners important real-world information on blending blogs into corporate marketing strategy to increase business, improve customer relations, build community and energize your brand.  The exclusive pre-show Executive & Entrepreneur conference will feature advice, tips and experiences by senior executives from Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders. 

Seth Godin Mis-Speaks on Click Thru

    Back in the office today, and I came across this interesting post from the popular IK blog, BlogStorm on whether Seth Godin (well known marketing guru) is encouraging click fraud, check out the  BlogStorm story here.  I too am concerned that a blogger of Mr Godin's stature would advocate for such a questionable activity.  Read both posts and decide for yourself and let us know what you think.

But as a blogger, remember that one of the basic rules to Adsense is to NEVER ask friends, family, readers, etc to click on your ads simply to drive up your numbers.  This is a dangerous action that would inappropriately inflate numbers and adversely impact the entire click through ad system.  Maybe Mr Godin hasn't entirely thought through the implications of his suggestion.  If you want to support a blog (this one especially ! ) and are interested in the products, that's another issue.  But, you can still use tip jars.  If you're interested in products & services advertised, feel free to learn more by visiting.  But click with care, and Blog To Great !!!

UPDATE 9/3/08- Since Seth's original post on this issue, he's received a considerable amount of e-mail complaints and viewed web reactions that said he's encouraging "click fraud".  He has responded and put up a follow up post to clear things up.  see link here and let me know what you think.  What is he suggesting???

Inspiration for Your Great Blog Posts

      BLOG IDEAS-  I've found myself spending more and more time on certain social network sites spreading the word about Blog To Great recently and noticed that they can serve a great function for gaining inspiration.  I've gotten great ideas for both new blogs and posts!  The best inspirational sites I suggest are still Digg and Sphinn to give you new topics to post about, for a general interest blog or a niche blog (I'm keeping a hand in Yahoo! Buzz too as it grows).  Also keep regularly visiting flickr or istockphoto.  Visual images are usually great sources!  This time, I'm not talking about using these as ways to promote your blog, but instead go in as a reader and explore!  But, as a side benefit, you can develope relationships with others on topics that you like. 

Are you using social network sites??  If so, which ones and for what purpose?  Have they helped?

Yahoo! Buzz Opens Up to All Bloggers !!!

  Yahoo! Buzz Opens Up to All -  A new, cool opportunity for bloggers is Yahoo! Buzz.  It's an extension of Yahoo! that finds content from blogs and websites. Buzz gathers timely stories and videos (and more) from an assortment of Web publishers throughout the day, and give readers the chance to be an editor by voting (“buzzing”) content up and down (either on Yahoo! Buzz, or on publisher partner websites) generating a "Buzz Score" for each article.  The good news for bloggers is now anyone can submit to Buzz.  Previously, only four hundred "invited" publishers contributed. Buzz looks like it could be a serious threat to Digg, as Buzz has something Digg doesn't; the attraction of Yahoo's front page and it's millions of viewers!  Now, I like and submit to Digg, but they've had some detractors lately and their viewership has declined.  Buzz will be a great additional way to find an audience for your great blog posts and your blog/s.  It's simple to sign up and to submit.  So, check it out today and Blog To Great !!!