Wordpress - The Good, The Bad, and The Annoying

Posted July 31st, 2006

Blogging is fun and potentially profitable, but finding the right blog platform to get your blog really going is a PITA at best. So, what do you do? First of all I highly reccomend using Wordpress. Out of the box it’s the best blog software I’ve used. It’s got tons of great themes and extensions to make it an absolutely killer blogging tool.

That being said Wordpress out of the box also requires a lot of tweaking before I would consider it “optimal”. For me, I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few months tweaking various blogs to see the outcomes of all kinds of different optimizations.

Overall, I’ve had a lot of success and I’ve come up with a good set of strategies to use when building a blog. Yet, when I put up a new blog I find myself spending a couple hours tweaking the blog template and adding in various plugins just to make it work the way I need it to. Now, obviously I run a fairly specialized group of plugins, settings, etc to get my blog “just so”, but it occurs to me that most people are going to run into the same basic problems and time-consuming changes for their blogs.

My solution? I think the best way to manage creating new blogs is to have a list of plugins that you want to install on each blog. Then, you also should get a list of elements that you want in each theme that you use. When you install run through your list as quick as you can and then see how you can improve your list. I’ve done this and I’ve found that there are some things that are not something I need to do right away for my site to succeed.

For example, there is no point putting DP Co-op or Link Vault on your sites right away because you get no benefit until your site is indexed. Thus, just wait a month before spending time on that. Getting your AdSense ads on your site is important to do right away, but spending the time to make them optimized might not be a good way to spend your time until you start getting traffic. There are going to be other things like this, but you get the idea.

The point in all of this is to realize that your time is valuable and that you should want to be as efficient as possible when developing a new site. Not every blog you develop is going to be a winner or even profitable…ever. So, instead of trying to optimize everything right away, you should get the basic optimizations in right away and then spend the rest of your time developing content and links. If you already have your content, then just worry about grabbing links. Once your blog is indexed and getting traffic, then go back and optimize ads and add link networks if that is your thing.

By spending on things that need to be built before you get traffic, then you have a better chance of your blog being a success earlier on. Also, the sooner you get your blog up, the sooner you can start working on another blog. More blogs == more money. Good luck!

<a href='http://www.blackbeardseo.com'>Blackbeard</a> is an independant web developer and marketer who specializes in developing blogs and online communities.

How Blogging Affects Mainstream Marketing

Posted July 17th, 2006

There has been a lot of buzz around blogging lately, and for good reason. Blogs are changing the way people market their businesses. If you aren’t familiar with blogging, the concept is relatively easy to grasp. Blogs first began as a shared online journal. A blogger posted diary-like entries about his or her daily life. Recently though, blogging has evolved into a new form of business writing and advertising. Many business owners now use blogs to promote their goods and services. By adding blogging to their marketing campaigns, business owners are able to market their product with virtually no out of pocket expense. In some cases, bloggers may even be able to make large sums of money with their published blog. For example, a blogger who employs the Google Ad Sense program can make money from blog readers. The more readers a blogger has, the more money can be made from the Google ad. A blogger can also be a guide for shoppers who are looking for specific products and services. This makes blogging an excellent tool for retailers or affiliate marketers. Blogs can also be a source of information and niche industry news. Because there are virtually limitless possibilities provided by blogging, it is easy to see why blogs have begun to have a significant impact on mainstream marketing practices. Many companies have noticed this and have chosen to hire a blogger to write and post up-to-date information for customers, shareholders, and employees. Some blogs now get millions of readers every single day. There are so many blog readers out there, that experts speculate that the world of blogging is rivaling the mainstream media. If you have not yet established a blog for your business, you may want to consider doing so as soon as possible. Keep in mind though that it will take work to attract readers to your blog. It must be interesting and/or valuable to them in some way. A blogger must also concentrate on creating informative pieces that are as honest and up-to-date as possible. Blogging is serious business and if you make a mistake, it will not go unnoticed by your readership. Last, but not least, a blogger must remember to optimize blog writing for search engines. Blogging is an Internet medium and needs to be approached with Internet principles in mind.

About the author: Cliff Posey, owner of CRP Marketing, owns and operates http://webbusinesstoolsonline.com. Cliff Posey has also operated several other successful web businesses including Love Song Cards and Radio Career Consultants. The content in this article was developed from his experience in these businesses and his continual research into further business improvements.

Blog Software For All Your Blogging Needs

Posted July 8th, 2006

Blog Software For All Your Blogging Needs Today anyone who has writing ability or is dreaming to be a writer has written a blog in the net. There are blog soft wares that are simple and easy to use and a technically inclined and challenged individuals can easily acquire a blog online. For some individuals, blogs are their projects of every day living, as they talk about their daily episodes as well as make tribute to friends and family. Furthermore, blogs assume a profound meaning written to compose and assemble political statements, endorse a product, supply information on research, and even offer tutorials. Any subject that are of your interests, you can be sure that someone has written a blog about it. Blogs are now being written by musicians, politicians, sports figures, novelists, newscasters as well as other known figures. It is this blog fever that has raised controversy. The fact that anyone can compose and regarding any subject matter under the sun, complaints about certain write-ups are an issue. In a lot of blogs, names are being mentioned; do bear in mind that although you are entitled to write anything that interests you in a blog, you have to be very careful and take in a lot of responsibility. Do not make any statements which can become controversial; or else, be very prepared. Why a Blog? 1. For personal acquaintances, relationships and hobby. A person can write a blog about his daily activities, what’s going on with his life as his way of telling his family and friends the things that goes on in his life. Likewise, one may also write a blog just so he can express what he feels about himself, or about a certain subject matter that is of interest to him. 2. Topical. Some blogs are committed to a precise topic, like computer hardware or politics. These are frequently read like magazines. 3. For marketing. Corporations are too, into blogging; when well written and implemented, this kind of blog can be a powerful instrument for business communications, forming eagerness and anticipation regarding their products and services offered, or used as tool within the company, keeping employees well informed about company issues and news. Why someone else’s software? A lot of Web designer and creators will laugh at the belief and idea of utilizing the software of someone else. This is can be correct especially when each software greatly differs from the particular requirements that a client may have. Yet on the other hand, when it refers to a Weblog software, there is no reason for apprehension in the use of a package that is pre-written, as most packages were developed through years of study; not just knocked together over a couple of days. In addition, one may study its feature set. For a developer, it would take a lot of time and effort to write and compose from “nothing at all” every single feature in the Weblog software packages of today. For most people, a blog is there for the main reason that chooses to publish or make known your literature and texts on the Web, so you want to spend your time more on writing than coding. Hosted Services If one wishes to start broadcasting on the Web, yet does not have web hosting, one can consider looking into a hosted service, which includes Blogger, TypePad, Live Journal, and more. These services are operated or handled for an individual, so there is no need to concern one about technical upkeep of one’s Weblog; instead, one can concentrate on his blog’s appearance and content. In just minutes, after signing for an account, one can readily start his own blog. Many such services are offered free, such as blogger. TypePad charges a minimal amount for monthly service fee. Self-Hosted When one has Web hosting on hand, or is eager to buy hosting, in which one feesl that the advantage will prevail over the problems of keeping up your own blog connection and installation, then you may want to take into account a package that is self-hosted, which includes Movable Type, Textpattern and WordPress. Other hosting companies did construct the process of installation easier, permitting installation with just a click from a control panel that is browser-based. It is important that you check with a hosting company so you can view if this function is offered. Similar to hosted services, some self hosted packages are made available either for free or for a certain fee which is dependent on the type of package that you choose as well as the basis why you are using it.

Manuel Garcia is a publisher and author of many online and offline businesses. He is willing to help people to start their own business venture.For more information,visit http://www.businesstips4u.com

Blogging 101

Posted July 8th, 2006

Publishing Permission Statement: This article may be freely published in your newsletter, ezine, magazine, website, or in your e-Book, as long as you keep my byline and resource box intact with a clickable link back to http://www.affiliate-free-ebook.com If writing is an art, then, blogging is one way of using words to come up with an art. This is because people who are into blogging are the ones who are artistic on their own sense, carefully choosing words that would best describe their feelings, sentiments, wishes, desires, and everything. Basically, blogs were first introduced as weblogs that refer to a “server’s log file.” It was created when web logging hit the virtual market. Since its inception in the mid-1990s, web logging gradually saturated the virtual community making the Internet a viable source of greater information. However, with web logging, you still need a web site and domain names, but with blogging, you do not need anything just an account with blog providers. In most cases, these kinds of blogs are free of charge. With the onset of blogging in the industry, personal journaling had been a common ground for people who wish to be known all over the world. However, not literally famous as this is not a case on being popular or well-known personality. Generally, blogs are created for personal use. Like a journal, people can write their daily adventures, sentiments, and whatever ideas they want to express online. Nevertheless, with the advent of the online businesses, blogs had gradually taken the limelight in providing businesses a chance to boost their productivity online. This is where the business blogs have taken the limelight. Business blogs are, basically, created to advertise the services or products of a certain web site or online business in order to increase online sales. Moreover, business blogs are also one way of promoting the company so that the other readers will know that a certain company exists online. With blogs, entrepreneurs are able to establish a name in the virtual market through articles that can be very useful in the reader’s life. From there, you can make money out of blogs by simply syndicating it to your business’ web site. This can be done through the RSS technology. So, if you are thinking to create a blog, whether for business or for pleasure, you need to know some tips that could help you get through and make your blog one of the interesting blogs online. Here’s how: 1. Consider your audience Even if your blog is generally personal, still, it would be better to consider the minds of your readers. You have to think of something that would interest them. After all, most of the reasons of people who write blogs are not at all confined to their own personal motives. Most of them would love to be “heard” (or read) and would love to be known, in some way or another, even for just a minute. Hence, it is very important to come with a write up that everybody can understand, not necessarily that these people can relate to it but they can understand it. 2. Pictures speaks a thousand words To make your blogging worth the browsing effort of your readers, it would be extremely nice if you will put some pictures in it. It does not necessarily mean you have to place a picture of yourself. Any photographs will do as long as it does not pose danger or insult to anyone who will be reading your blog. 3. Make constructive and beneficial blogs Even if you are free to write anything you wan to say to the world, still, it would be better to create some write-ups that would be beneficial to your readers. After all, its information technology that you have there so better be inclined to provide information rather than sheer quirky entertainment. 4. Avoid making multifaceted and complicated blogs In order to have an interesting blogs, try not to use some highly technical and highfalutin words. After all, it is not a science discourse or a debate that you are making, so better stick to simple facts and short blogs. Bear in mind that most people who use the Internet usually do more scanning than scrutinizing each site word for word. Therefore, it would be better to come with blogs that will not bore your readers just because you have these lengthy articles. 5. Make it interactive As much as possible and if your capacity will allow it, make your blog interactive. Yu can do this by placing some video or audio clips in your blog. You can even place an area for comments or for some feedbacks. In this way, you can get some impressions or reactions of other people. Who knows, you might even gain some friends just by making them feel at home in your blog site. Indeed, blogs are not created just for the mere fun of it. It also has its own purpose in the world of the Internet. Therefore, for people who wish to harness their craft, as far as writing is concerned, blogs are the best way to do it. As they say, blogging is the contemporary term of creative and commercial writing.

Joe Terceira is the creator of The Ultimate Affiliate Business eBook.
http://www.affiliate-free-ebook.com It is a free eBook download for eBook marketing. Use this free marketing eBook online and get free internet advertising.

Using a Blog to Generate Leads for an MLM Business

Posted July 5th, 2006

By now, you should have some idea of what a ‘blog’ is. To keep it simple, a blog is sort of an online journal