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 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.'

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! 

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.  

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.

10 Great Tips for Marketing to Women on Facebook

Blog Tips - With over 56M women using Facebook in the USA, and growing, bloggers and marketers must pay attention to and use of Facebook effectively to get proper traction and to be noticed by this audience.  But, if you're new and women aren't already aware of you and your blog/brand, simply being on Facebook doesn't accomplish much. 

And even though Facebook has done a wonderful job of helping you through their Pages product, it doesn't run itself and guarantee increased awareness for you. To help you in this effort, Brette Barow (President and Founder of Girls Guide to) has created a list of the 10 tips for marketing to women on Facebook.

See her full post, here

TWITTER's New "Twitter Lists" Tips and Ideas

BLOG TIPS - As they continue to improve their product and offerigns,  Twitter recently released a beta version of their new,  Twitter Lists.  As they say, “a great way to organize the people you follow and discover new and interesting accounts.”  Great we're not sure yet, but we agree with the list concept.  It's still in Beta, so you might not find it yet on your Twitter account, so let BtG tell you... 

Facebook has lists that let you organize your friends,  Twitter Lists is primed to let you do more than that.  It's already a neat tool for business and marketers, Twitter Lists gaves us some new targeting opportunities, and might also evolve with new online social marketing potential as it expands.

Like Facebook, you can categorize people on your Twitter Lists and add them to one or more of your private lists, as determined by you,  on lists that you name (and can edit later).  Though with Twitter Lists you can create public lists if you decide to.  I suggest you start off with private lists, get comfortable then go public later.   You can also find out what lists you are on (and in this way find other cool, like minded Twitterers !!!  Unlike Facebook,  you can add anyone to your lists (provided that person hasn’t protected his / her updates), making for a great way to find and follow people.

Link Baiting Tips for Your Blog's Success

     BLOG TIPS - Many bloggers, especially newer ones, misunderstand the concept of Link Baiting.  Somehow, the name gives it a bad rap for some.  But it really  means anything on your blog that's interesting enough to grab reader's attention. It's a good SEO technique to get natural links for your blog. Of course, remain focused always on creating quality content for your blog and to always write something which is fresh,informative, helpful, compelling and interesting for readers. But among your other promotional, marketing and advertising efforts, keep Link Baiting in mind! 

Read this link baiting tips (and let us know how they work for you and your blog) -

Offer Up Something Useful for FREE-  Give other bloggers a useful or interesting tool at no charge.  Such as; if your in the loan or mortgage biz, provide a free mortgage calculator or currency convertor etc. then if other webmasters will use that tool on ther website will automatically provide you a link back.

Create a Poll or Quiz-  Polls, quizzes, surveys, etc. are good ways to create talk about a topic (and your blog), and you'll learn something about your readers.

Run Contests: Organize a contest for your readers to enter.  Be sure to follow all laws and regulations, but it's a good way of link baiting, by promoting to other bloggers in your niche.

Write a Controversial post-  Thous usually generate strong reactions. I, personally, don't like to be offensive, so I advise not to go over the limit, but people post their perspective & publish the complete conversation on their on blog too. (Hey, you'll probably get some comments too, never a bad thing).

Be Contrarian. Look at a current, hot topic.  Don't side with the majority, make your case for the minority opinion and do it well.  (But don't sell your soul on big, important issues.  Always be true to yourself)

Research and Stats- Do your homework and research a topic which is currently popular or trending well, then post your opinion and expertise.  Make sure to add something of value to the topic, don't just give out facts.  Use the info you learned and offer an "expert" opinion, and prediction.

Use Jokes & Humor - One of the best linkbaiting techniques around. Most folks react to funny content and usually share it with others on their blog/forums/etc.  The jokes are especially effective in link baiting when they refer to a noted figure or expert in a niche.  For Blog to Great, maybe we should call out top "how to blog / blogging gurus" and pro bloggers, like Maki, Darren Rowse, John Chow, Darren Scocco !!!

More ideas needed?, see a great list at Jim Westergreen's  blog.  And, let us know your tips and suggestions on Link Baiting. 

TOP Twitter Tip Tutorials to Watch

   BLOG TIPS- Twitter is an exciting tool for communication, sharing info, and promotion but for many, it's so easy to type Tweet (140 characters or less) that they don't realize that there are more features and benefits to help your Twittering experience.  Maybe that's why a large precent of new Twitterers give up after 60 days on Twitter. So, Ben Parr has compiled a list of the Top TWITTER Tutorials to improve your Twitter experience, and they could help your blog too.  Tips so you can get started on Twitter or want the latest on some of Twitter’s best desktop apps. Check it out, and watch the YouTube videos at TweetMe.

BLOG Tips for Your Blogging Success

     BLOG TIPS- With the growth of Twitter, many have written off blogging.  But we know new bloggers are still starting blogs every day and use Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc to promote their blogs, and experienced blogs are always looking for tips, ideas and sometimes, reminders about basic blog tasks in order to have successful, profitable blog.  So, here are some blogging reminders from BtG.  After deciding to create a blog, the first thing that you do is make sure your blog URL attracts readers in your niche / market.  For example, if you're going to cover,  promote and drums at your blog, you want your URL to say drumkits.blogurl.com. You'll help explain what your blog does and pick up an advantage.  Better yet, regisiter a domain name of your own and direct your to it.  drumkits.com is better than one with a blog extension.

Fter that, customize your blog to your taste and feel. Don't go with the same style blog interface that others have.  It's important to have your blog memorable and unique.  In this way, it will help readers from getting confused with other blogs that look could look similar. There  many types of blog software available that having your own design isn't too hard or expensive.  Know your niche, and see what other bloggers in your catagory are doing.

Work on Keyword research, it's a important part of blog marketing. If you haven't used keywords that people search on, then chances are no one is going to find your blog. Have a fairly wide variety of keywords in your blog also.  And be sure to not use the same keyword over and over.  Remember that not everybody will the same term (‘drumkits’) when they're searching for gear. So, keyword research is an important marketing tool to learn more about, it'll pay off.