Blog To Great

"Re-Program" Your Blog For More Readers

BLOG TIPS-  Read thru this, we'll discuss how it relates to blogs, blogging and marketing later..

HOW SMART IS YOUR RIGHT FOOT?
 
You have to try this, it takes 2 seconds.   It's from an orthopedic surgeon.   This will boggle your mind and will keep you trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't.  It's programmed in your brain.
Without anyone watching you, and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

I told you so, amazing, huh !!!  And there's nothing you can do about it! 

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Amazing how your body and mind is programmed to perform in a certain way.  But is your blog?  For those that have blogged for some time, and in the blogosphere that could be six months, step back and review your blogand your blogging habits.  You might find that you've programmed your blog into one that may surprise you, but it doesn't have to be that way. Is the blog you have now the one you started out to have.  You may be pleased with what you have, but if not, you can always change & improve your blog.  Often thru only minor tweaks.  

Well, one important reason may be it's stuck in a rut and your readers have grown tired  !  You've inadvertently programmed and engineered your blog for so long that you're not keeping it new and fresh.  Some simple ideas on how to "re-program" your blog-

*  Keep up with news and trends in your niche and expand on them for your readers. 

*  Renew relationships with bloggers in your niche.  Jumpstart the category !

*  Change your layout, design.  Especially your ads, no one likes a stale look.

*  Invite New guest bloggers to add a different prospective.

*  Start a readers column, get them to participate thru Q&A's, guest authoring, etc

But do it, and do it now.  What else works for you?  Share below in our comment section, thanks !

 

 

MOMMY BLOGGER Calls for PR "Blackout" Week

    BLOG TIPS - A popular mommy blogger,MomDot, that called for a week-long "PR blackout" by her peers has told PRWeek that she didn't intend to sound anti-PR industry in her pitch, but that the boycott should be a lesson to agencies that inundate bloggers with irrelevant pitches. 

We were surprised when we heard about her campaign, as Mom Bloggers have gotten considerable attention, power and press over the recent years and have become a blogosphere force that's been willing to promote products and services to the unsuspecting public (do readers know that the bloggers get free stuff?).   This is less a PR industry problem, but a blogger problem.  Why an organized "blackout" would be called for is confusing to BtG.  Momdot, why not organize productive campaigns and blogging services for Mom's Bloggers to help them create better blog content that doesn't require the services/products from PR and Marketing firms.  To blame the PR industry and call for a PR Blackout, which in itself is quite a PR move, calls attention to the problem of bloggers losing focus on the point of their blog.  Most blogs don't start out to be servants of the PR community, but if you take "free stuff" for too long, you get hooked.

I suggest Mom's Blogs, and all bloggers, always remain focused on the point of their blog, whether it's monetizing a blog, kid's activities, camp ideas, college selection process, breastfeeding, etc.  Don't get trapped by promoting goods or services not in your niche.  You're not forced to post anything, so when you do, make sure it's worthwhile.

Your thoughts?  Do you post about free stuff, services?  Do you feel used by the PR Industry?

More at PRWeek

Google Analytics Explained, and Some Great Tips

      BLOG TIPS - As you likely know, GOOGLE ANALYTICS is a free service from Google that gives bloggers / website operators helpful, detailed stats about the visitors to your blog.  But do you use it to it's fullest and often enough.  It's the most widely used web analytics application and most respected.  It came out of the analytics-package developed by Urchin Software Corporation (which was purchased by Google in April 2005).  And, the best feature is that it's geared to marketers and great for bloggers looking to monetize a blog / move up in search engine rankings and not to techy webmasters.  Google Analytics tracks visitors from all of the referrers to your blog; that includes search engines,  display ads and PPC (pay per click) networks.

It's linked to their Adwords, so you can review your online campaigns by tracking the landing page quality and conversions.   This way, you can look at sales, lead generations, views to a specific page, or downloads of a particular file.  With GA, your able to figure out which of your ads are performing the best, and which aren't, to give you the needed tools to revise, end and update campaigns.

Read the Smash Magazine post for more info and some great Google Analytics tips !

TWITTER Whacks BRUNO. Is Microblogging Taking Over ?

     Blog Tips- An interesting development in the social media world this week, it would appear that thhe film industry has noted the impact microblogging, namely Twitter, and how user impact others posts/comments/tweets.  Now,  Time magazine suggests "Brüno could be the first movie defeated by the Twitter effect."  The film, Bruno (starring Sacha Baron Cohen) opened in theatres last Friday with what appeared to be good numbers, $14.4 million, that would suggest a first week of $50 million in the box office.  But, then Twitter and Twitter users stepped in.  It would appear that the negative 140 character reviews of the film took a bigger bite on attendance than industry experts predicted. The studio saw a HUGE drop off on Saturday, unusual for an opening weekend and as a result, the final revenue was barely over $30 million for Universal Pictures.

We wonder how the film studio execs will respond.  Sony has had it's share of problems with bad word of mouth too, and it's District 9 release is getting hit hard already without Twitter.  It's one thing to package a film and put out ads with the best parts, but how do execs stop immediate, negative reviews from Twitterers ??  (We hope it will mean better films, as the junk won't get made.)  There likely response is to align more closely with key blogs / bloggers / twitterers and social media firms in hopes of getting good buzz on opening weekend.  The down side there is the damage to bloggers' and social media firms who are caught "spinning" trash to earn some money.  

What do you think?  Is it OK to speak well of a product only for the advertising and marketing revenue? Will you and your blog be harmed??? 

Is Twitter a Good Affiliate Marketing Tool ?

     Blog Tips - The Search Engine Journal reports that Amazon.com is refusing to pay commissions on affiliate sales that were generated via Twitter.  Apparently they adhering to their Terms of Service and  claiming that any link must come from “Your Site” in order to be eligible for commission.

“Your site” means any site that you will link to the Amazon Site (and which you will identify in your Program application)

This has provoked considerable concern from many bloggers and affiliate marketers who worry, because Twitter has the potential for affiliate marketing (provided you do it correctly) and Amazon's move could lead other networks to disallow Twitter leads.  Though I haven't heard many issues over the use of RSS feeds and wonder if Amazon will crackdown here too.

Your thoughts?  Are you using, and have you had success with Twitter as an Affiliate Marketing tool ?

See post, at SearchEngineJournal.com

Save the Newspapers, Ban Linking !!!

     Blog News- In one of the more highly charged and (crazy ideas) to save newspapers,the otherwise intelligent, Richard Posner, US Appeals Court judge, has been promoting the idea of banning links (and more!) under the guise of saving the newspaper industry!  But in America, we were under the impression that news is news, and though you can copyright a news story, but not the news.  To prevent bloggers from paraphrasing or commenting on news developments is outrageous.  At BtG we deplore the copying of other people's work and know the importance of giving credit, but the idea of prevent links should be a concern to all bloggers. And as crazy as his idea sounds, it should be watched and you should be prepared to content your elected officials. And btw, why does the newspaper industry require being saved. 

See more at ValleyWag and a great report on the state of the newspaper biz at BusinessInsider

What is FREE ? Chris Anderson's New Book Asks What Happens...

     Blog Tips- Much is being said about the new book by Chris Anderson (The Long Tail), FREE, including that he may have plagiarized significant portions and comments coming in from Mark Cuban and Seth Godin.  So, Chris is getting significant attention already and we look forward to reading the full work.  But, in the meantime, continue to examine what the future will hold for content.  Music, movies, blogs, newspapers; must they all be free?  Or, is this transition period the harbinger for changes to improve the distribution of knowledge, entertainment and all content.  Will the internet in the end ruin everything and all economic models, or bring renewed opportunity?  We've seen the demise of record companies, in great part due to the executives ignoring the digital age and their clinging on to old models.  The newspaper, magazine and home entertainment (dvd) companies were nearly as slow to react as their record company friends, only recently coming to terms with the reality of digital and internet opportunities.  We saw blogs take hold and impact print, we now see Twitter and it's free resource impacting blogs.

As Wired.com points out: "Once a marketing gimmick, free has emerged as a full-fledged economy. Offering free music proved successful for Radiohead, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, and a swarm of other bands on MySpace that grasped the audience-building merits of zero. The fastest-growing parts of the gaming industry are ad-supported casual games online and free-to-try massively multiplayer online games. Virtually everything Google does is free to consumers, from Gmail to Picasa to GOOG-411."

What will all this mean for your blog?  Will free make it harder to monetize a blog?  It should mean more blog opportunities, more content to offer your readers and more chances for you to bring on changes to help your followers. The issue really is, how to deal with a world full of free.  Don't fight free, use FREE, and make it a model for success.

See the review of FREE in The New Yorker.