No Spec Work - Rewarding Creativity Properly

It even surprised me.

Yes, even though I have been pointing out the possibility since July, and was forced by demand to release my study findings before my book was even half finished, I was shocked when I heard the news as well.

You see, I was sure we were at least a year off from this glorious day.

The News

Yahoo has had a little facelift, which you’ve probably read about by now. The real news is more important for your site - the “My Yahoo!” page looks different too.

On September 28, 2004, surfers who logged in to their personalized Yahoo area saw an announcement explaining the RSS and Atom files that show updated information to a website as content feeds, effectively pushing news feeds into the mainstream.

The new look to this section of Yahoo was presented as a full page ad to every single account holder upon first log in that day, and even now, there remains a notice posted.

When I logged into my page in the “My Yahoo!” section, I saw a big difference in the number of feeds left to choose from, as well as in the way they were presented.

Currently, the RSS module boasts “150,000 sources”. If your site isn’t one of them, its crucial that you act now. If you have one and you’re not getting the results you’d like from your set-up, there are small changes you can implement that will make a huge difference in your listing.

Best results aren’t as easy as submitting your feed now, but you’re still within the window of opportunity - if you do it properly.

What the News Could Mean For Your Site If You Act Now

One of my clients recently called this “the back door into Yahoo”. Whether that statement is accurate as far as getting included, or receiving an increase in rankings within Yahoo’s search engine via your feed, depends on your site, and whether you create your feed correctly.

If you could use a daily stream of traffic from even a small portion of Yahoo’s estimated 20 million users, this could be your final wake-up call. You’ll want to learn how to create a feed that gets well listed immediately.

Currently, the RSS module boasts “150,000 sources”. Yahoo will still need hundreds, perhaps thousands more, even if it only intends to list the “creme de la creme” of the submissions it gets. Being in that group is as easy as submitting your feed.

Being at the top of the list isn’t. However, you’re still within the window of opportunity if you take the time to learn how to do this properly. You can get free details on how to do that at helpmerss.com .

“My Yahoo!” RSS Headline module Coming Out of Beta?

If I had to guess, I’d say all signs point to yes. When that happens, Yahoo’s RSS/Atom directory will likely contain only those who added their feeds early. New feeds seeking to be included will probably face stricter standards.

If you don’t have one yet don’t worry, because it’s never been easier to make one. If you can cut and paste, there are tools all over the Net that will show you how- some will even generate the file for you.

However, there are still certain guidelines you need to follow with your feed to get a good result out of Yahoo - it’s not as simple as adding your feed now that there are more competing listings.

Yahoo is still accepting new sources for RSS feeds. Readers of my last book state that they are getting excellent results following my instructions, though initial inclusion no longer occurs at the same rate. Plenty of markets have few feeds available, or none at all. Your site could fill that void.

That means you still have a chance at a first page ranking. The traffic I get on a daily basis from My Yahoo readers alone sounds like I just like to brag.

And I do, but that’s hardly the point.

The point is, there’s no place you can even go to buy the caliber of exposure to the quality of audience that reads feeds. The typical audience that accesses information by feed are also blog readers. A study this summer estimated that the 69.3% of blog readers are aged 29-50, and that 40% of this audience are people who have household incomes greater than $90,000.

The type of surfer that would subscribe to your feed has pre-qualified themselves as a lead, with a certain level of understanding and interest in your topic, often on a professional level. And if you don’t spend every post hitting them over the head with your sales pitch, they can be both loyal and interactive.

(If you do, they’ll unsubscribe from your feed faster than you can spell s-p-a-m.)

And if you’re in the business of providing information you can use, in a way that shows how you can solve their problem, it’s like preaching to the converted. If your product solves their problem, and you show that you deserve the trust of this subscriber, you’ll also find the route to a sale an increasingly downward slope.

The bottom line - this is the power surfer’s favorite toy. And if your content appeals to them, you need to learn how to play.

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Learn how Tinu saw a 75% increase in both traffic and sales from feeds at http://freetraffictip.com/rssbook . For free reprint rights to her articles (and a potential $500 bribe) send a blank email to moneyarticles@freetraffictip.com .

AT&T U-verse (fiber television deal) is the hottest developing TV provider in the United States and is rising by leaps and bounds from month to month. ATT, who has long been known for providing quality home phone service as well as mobile phone service, has really made a stir in this new arena.

Currently AT&T current promohas a crystal clear picture that matches the best High Definition scheduling their competitors have to offer. Once its working and your friends witness it you will probablyhave to invest in furniture because you’ll have folks over at your house all of the time. U-verse packages start out at approximately 200 channels and include a DVR (digital video recorder) for taping your favorite episodes.

Speaking of the Video Recorder, U-verse’s DVR does more than a conventional one does. You can check out one of your preferred shows while you recordanother one at the same time. Most DVRs already have this capability built in. But AT&T’s DVR lets you to tape up to four (4) shows simultaneously. This makes TV viewing, especially for roomies and couples, much easier.

In addition to stellar television service and a multi-purpose DVR, AT&T Uverse offers tons of On Demand Movies. On Demand is a great add-on to renting vids from the local video store, or from those DVD mailing companies like Netflix and Blockbuster.

ATT Uverse has a number of unique choices to select from when you decide on U-verse. Their bundles are made to fit any household’s need of the situation.

If you want their most basic package which has fewer digital channels and fewer in HD, it is by all means possible. AT&T U-verse also bundles their services providing a soup-to-nuts service package for their customers. That means TV Service, online service, and telephone service all in one convenient bundle.

The 1st step is to find ATT U-verse Coupons. They are all over the place . Once you’ve selected the package that best fits your household, AT&T will schedule a day and hour for an install. The installation can typically take a few hours and may be the most intricate part of the process.

But AT&T has the most skilled and professional staff that is well suited for installations as any necessary repairs that you might have in the future.

There’s a Chance you’re moving to a new state that has U-verse or you’re just seeking a change from your normal every day cable company. Whatever the reason, now is the time to check U-verse out. They’re firmly dug in a good portion of the country and their service gets stronger and by the day.

Also, ATT is really trying to grow their customer base and have been offering some tempting cash bonuses recently. So check themout today!

There are many factors that make blogs much better than normal WebPages including the speed at which blogs are indexed, ability to submit to blog directories & normal directories, pings and track backs. All these little things can help drive more traffic to blogs. Here are 15 popular techniques you can use:

1. Create at least four keyword posts per day. Most of the top blogs such as Boing Boing, Daily Kos, and Instapundit (with literally tens of thousands of visitors per day) publish an average of 30 small 100-150 word posts per day according to “Secrets of the A-list Bloggers: Lots of Short Posts” by TNL.net

2. Submit to My Yahoo! When you submit your own RSS to My Yahoo it is indexed by Yahoo.

3. Submit to Google’s Reader. When you submit your own blog RSS to Google’s Reader the Google Blog Search will index your site.

4. Add a relevant link directory to your blog and trade links like a demon possessed! Although it may take more time than simply submitting to a search engine one time, this method is perhaps the best way to drive traffic to your site. Use software such as Zeus to speed up the link trading process.

5. Use ping sites like ping-o-matic. Ping your site every time you add a new post.

6. Submit your blog to traditional search engines such as AltaVista, and MSN.

7. Submit your blog to traditional directories such as DMOZ. Directories (particularly DMOZ) increase relevance with Google. DMOZ is very picky, but what do you have to lose by trying?

8. Submit to as many RSS Directories and Search Engines as possible. This is a simple but repetitive process that can be done with software such as RSS SUBMIT.

9. Comment on other blogs. Do not just leave short, lazy comments like “I agree.” Leave well thought out replies that will force readers to wonder “who wrote this?”

10. Use track backs. If there is a blog that you refer to or quote and it is highly relevant to your subject, leave a track back. It increases your link popularity and may even score a few interested readers from the linked site.

11. Go offline. Use newspaper ads, public bulletin boards, business cards, even stickers to let as many people as possible know your blog exists.

12. Add a link to your blog in your e-mail signature block.

13. Use Groups (Usenet). Find a relevant group on Google groups, Yahoo groups, MSN groups or any of the thousands of other FREE group services and find like minded people and talk with them. Make sure to use your blog URL like it is your name.

14. Use Forums. Forums are one of the best places to go for advice. Go to forums and find problems to solve. Make sure you leave your blog name, but be tactful about it; some forums get annoyed with those who selfishly drop a few links to their own site and leave.

15. Tag your website. Tagging is a new idea that has erupted across the web. Sites like Del.icio.us, Technorati and many others have a social feature that allows you to place your article under keywords or “tags” that everyone interested in that tag can see.

Kevin Oorlynck is the editor of the Wealth:Time4Evolution! Newsletter and Webmaster of the Evolution Resources Center

In 1999 I asked my friends and colleagues if they blogged. The responses I received ranged from odd looks to questions about the blogging practice. The end results of my findings was “Blog” was a new term and not highly recognized. That was then, a half million blog users ago.

Blogs have become and I do believe will continue into their plight of greatness for sometime, until a new technology slides into place. For the time being, blogs are a great way to define who you are to your visitors and provide dynamic content that the search engines go nuts over.

Clogged email boxes and spam eaters have taken a dramatic effect on the once powerful email marketing tool. As email marketing loses its effect, marketers and small businesses are seeking ways to fulfill this lost art of communication between staff and customers. Blogging could be that much needed answer for you.

SO what is a blog?

Blogs are a time and date stamped, easy to search, web based journal or self publishing tool. Blogs can have a corporate style, but in most cases are written by one person in a relaxed, candid atmosphere. True personality usually shines threw in the opinions of the blog writer. You do not have to be a writer to produce a blog. Even so, many blogs owners become recognized as small journalists, as the writer speaks their mind or offers self analyzed materials on their preferred subject matters.

You may think at this point, that a blog does not sound like a business tool.

Let’s take blogging into a business approach and see how we can benefit.

Problem:

Many marketing methods and advertising spiels fall on blind eyes and deaf ears across the net today with such a medium we have created where advertising is abundant and often shoved at us in every direction.

Solution:

Visitors will come to your blog of their free will to read your newest content of choice, giving you a higher ratio of targeted visits.

Problem:

Email marketing is losing ground. Overflowing email inboxes and spam filters that don’t deliver your ezine.

Soultion:

Using your blog as a web based area for your product and service announcements and updates. When someone subscribes to your blog or RSS feed, they will receive automatic updates that include the headline, summery and URL of your new entries.

Bonus:

Email gets deleted … Blogs get indexed in search engines!

Problem:

Internet marketing can be a nonpersonal medium, gaining trust becomes increasingly harder and more important to gain new customers.

Solution:

Blogging can give your visitors, existing and potential customers a great area to gain insight about the face you present to the world. If you’re a small business owner to a large corporate business, you can benefit by giving your company or web site personality via blog.

Now let’s take a look at blogs from another angle. Rss and/or live feed. You may be thinking, do I Really Need to Know About Rss?

Yes, but we are not going to give a full history of RSS here. What you need to know is that RSS is the “code” that underlies a blog. It includes a headline, a short summery of the entry and the URL of the page that the new story has been posted to. In order for users to subscribe to RSS feeds they will need to download a news aggregator. There are many available for free, we recommend NewsGator http://www.newsgator.com for its ease of use within Microsoft Outlook.

Visitors and other websites can syndicate your RSS feeds to their desktop, their email, newsreaders and on their own websites. Talk about getting the word around! Submitting your RSS feed, can get you listed in hundreds of new emerging RSS feed directories. Of course this will bring traffic to see what your feed is about to those looking to syndicate them to their own sites or readers. Also creating more links pointing to your site.

Let me touch on one of the most important features of a blog. Search engines love them. Most bots including google will visit and reindex blog pages daily. Yahoo will index your RSS free and quickly.

There are many ways and places you can begin your blogging journey. You should first decide if you want to house the blog on your site or let other sites manage your blog system. For this we recommend www.blogger.com, now owned by Google. The google toolbar has a one click Blog This button that can make blogging quick and painless. You can set the blogger.com blog files to ftp to your host for you so that your files are housed on your server. There are many blog services online today, and there are many free and low cost scripts that you can easily run your own blog from your site without the need of any other service provider.

If you would like to find out more about blogs and blog services we invite you to visit our resource section at http://www.masteradvertising.com.

We hope to provide many learning materials and resources for the online promoter using blogs and rss feeds for the online advertising medium.

About The Author

Dawn Wentworth has been providing insight to site promotion sense 1994. http://www.masteradvertising.com

It is important to realize that your choice of a niche can have a significant influence on the success or failure of your new blog.

Deciding on a theme can be a daunting task. What exactly are you going to write about? Your niche needs to be a popular topic that many people are interested in.

If you are going to blog about yourself, then you better have a very interesting life, or you will have difficulty keeping your readers coming back for more. You should choose a topic that will make it comparatively easy to grow your readership and build a strong following.

Since many bloggers write about their favorite subjects, it’s not a bad idea to start brainstorming by writing down a list of your hobbies, interests, and any areas of professional expertise. Now try to determine a niche you can target within one of those areas.

Should you blog about automobiles in general, or the latest sports cars? If you choose too narrow a theme then you may struggle to come up with regular, fresh content. And if you choose a topic that’s too general your readers may be confused by a jumble of seemingly unrelated posts.

You might consider niches within the following general topic areas which have proven to be popular for blogging:

• Automobiles
• Computers & Information Technology
• Digital Cameras
• Gadgets
• Music
• News
• Photography
• Politics
• Shopping

If you plan to use Pay-Per-Click advertising to get traffic to your blog, then remember also that the hottest topics might have the highest pay-per-click fees.

You can sometimes get great niche ideas by browsing at Blog directories and sites like Google Blog Search: http://blogsearch.google.com

Since it is so time-consuming trying to com up with the ‘perfect’ niche idea, many bloggers and webmasters have turned to specialized niche discovery tools. I particularly recommend Online Gold Finder and NicheTopics.

With Online Gold Finder you can uncover profitable, undiscovered online markets with just a couple of clicks. Read more about Online Gold Finder at: http://www.moneyforblogging.com/goldfinder.htm

NicheTopics is quite handy in a different way. You get to use some great research that’s already been completed by an expert. It is a ready-to-use report on 109 unique, untapped niches. Read more about NicheTopics: http://www.moneyforblogging.com/nichetopics.htm

The tools above are not free but consider for a moment. If you are planning - or would even like - to make some money from your blog, then it will be worthwhile to start off with a well-researched niche.

If a particular tool uncovers a good niche that pays an additional $5 a day, it will pay for itself inside the first month!

Don’t forget, it will be very difficult to change the theme and niche of your blog later. So invest some time wisely during your planning stage.

You will be off to a strong start in building a successful blog.

Mike Seddon is a writer, entrepreneur, and webmaster. He is the author of the popular e-book, ‘How to Build a Money Making Blog’, available from www.MoneyForBlogging.com

11 Ways to Promote Your Blog

1. Ping weblogs.com and other search engines. When you ping a blog, you are telling the search engine that you have updated your blog content and that your listing should be refreshed. Weblogs.com is a blog update notification service that many individuals and services use to track blog changes. Pinging your blogs to the search engines is the fastest way to get the search engine robots to visit your blog. Also, many people browse these sites to find something new.

2. Submit your blog address to blog search sites and directories. You can submit your blog’s url to websites such as Technorati, Daypop, Blogdex and Popdex. For a complete list of websites where you can submit your url, go to http://www.guidetorss.com

3. If you have some cash you can promote your blog using pay per click search engines such as Yahoo Search and Google Adwords.

4. Set your blog to display RSS feeds and submit your blog’s RSS feed to the major RSS feed directories online. A good place to start is http://www.guidetorss.com which provides a list of the top RSS directories.

5. Put your blog URL in your email signature. If you’re a regular at any online discussion forum, you can also add your url to your signature line at the bottom of each message you post.

6. Install a blogroll. A blogroll is a collection of links to other weblogs. Services such as Technorati spider your links to tell who’s linking to you and who you’re linking to. If you show up on someone’s Technorati link list for their site they’re likely to visit your site to see what you said, increasing your exposure. Blog owners can also visit your site to check it out if you show up on their referral logs.

7. Be an active commenter. Try to leave comments on the blogs that you regularly visit. Most comment systems also provide a way for you to leave a link back to your blog which begs a visit at the very least.

8. If you plan to have anything printed up, put your blog’s web address on it. You can print your blog URL on business cards, stickers, leaflets, etc.

9. Take advantage of blog software features that help to promote your Blog. For example, if you’re using Blogger, you can do this by turning on: “Email This Post”, “Post Pages” “Site feed” and the Blogger Navbar. These features will help attract new visitors to your blog.

10. Exchange Links with other Bloggers or blog owners. This is another effective strategy for generating targeted traffic to your blog for free. It involves contacting other blog owners for a possible link exchange partnership. All you have to do is locate blogs that are related to yours and contact the webmaster to swap links.

11. Write articles or free reports for other webmasters to publish and put your blog url in the byline. The ‘byline’ is the short paragraph that goes at the bottom of each article and describes who the author is and what they do. If you write good content, your articles will be published by other webmasters and many readers who like your article will go on to visit your blog. You can submit articles for free at: http://www.going-platinum.co.uk/

Copyright © 2005. Chileshe Mwape writes for Debt Consolidation Loans UK: http://www.best-debt-consolidation-loan.co.uk/ and http://www.secured-homeowner-loan.co.uk/. Visit these sites to consolidate debts and apply for a loan online. This article may be reprinted as long as all the above links are active and clickable.

For the past two years, one of the best SEO inclusion tactics was the use of blogs. Blogs have become a base standard in SEO marketing, but as times change, so does the efficacy of any tactic.

With that said what worked two years ago certainly isn’t the same thing that’s working now. The worst part is that uninformed marketers are still teaching the old methods of SEO marketing with blogs to the masses.

In this article, you will be enlightened to the newest form of SEO marketing with blogs.

Let’s begin by eliminating a huge fallacy.

The blog and ping is a process by which you post a snippet of information from your site to a blog (mainly blogger.com) with a URL to your site included, and then notify Yahoo that a post exists on this blog. The idea is that your blog will be spidered quickly by both Google (due to blogger.com) and Yahoo.

You only need to blog and ping a maximum of 10 pages from your site. The entire purpose for doing this is to attract search engines to your site and let them spider the rest of your site on their own. You can equate this process to renting links. You simply rent one link to your site in order to get the spiders to visit your site.

Unfortunately money hungry marketers came along, didn’t understand the concept, and then took it upon themselves to teach people that every page on your site required blogging and pinging. To top it off, these same uninformed marketers began teaching their followers that three pages should be processed every 15 minutes.

The blog and ping isn’t as effective as it was a year ago because of these numbskulls.

With that said, it was time for the process to evolve. Its efficacy was diminished due to misuse and misguided education.

So where has it evolved to?

It’s evolved into an organic blog that grows of its own. This blogging system receives its data from remote sources and posts on a consistent, yet infrequent basis. It pulls usable and visitor friendly data from a variety of sources, while still hosting the links you want found by the search engines. This blog informs over 50 blog directories every time an automated post is made, making it extremely valuable to the search engine algorithms.

How is this accomplished?

First, you need Wordpress (http://wordpress.org) and RSS to Blog (http://www.stealthtrafficsecrets.com/rsstoblog.html). Once you’ve downloaded both of these, make sure you install them.

Once installed, configure Wordpress per the instructions found here: http://www.stealthtrafficsecrets.com/wordpress-tricks/.

Second, create a list of links from your site which will be used in this new hybrid blog and ping tactic. One of the bonuses for RSS to Blog is a tool that does this automatically for you.

Third, add these harvested links to the RSS to Blog system and hit save. Set your cron to post out as often as you like and you’re done.

That’s it in a nutshell.

There are a couple of additional points I need to make,

First, when using RSS to Blog you also have the ability to add additional data from other sources in order to make your Wordpress blog readable by the masses.

Second, the Wordpress tricks book gives you the knowledge to make your blog more search engine friendly as well as providing a list of blog directories that are automatically notified every time you make an entry.

With this tactic revealed, it’s my intention for you to enjoy the quick search engine inclusion that comes as a result of implementation.

Copyright 2005 Keith Baxter

This article has been authored by Keith Baxter, the editor and publisher of the fast selling video newsletter at http://www.StealthTrafficSecrets.com. If you wish to learn how to drive massive amounts of traffic to your website, then subscribe to the site now… it’s only $7.00 per month!

I was sitting in my local Internet Cafe yesterday, I like to get away from my ‘home office’ from time to time and it’s a great place to go for a cup of Espresso and to meet interesting people. The rather attractive lady sitting next to me was typing away furiously and, when she had finished, I asked her what she was writing - I’m interested in learning how other people use the Internet… some people call that being nosey!

It turns out she was a ‘Blogger’ and she was updating her web site through a web browser. She was really interested in vegetarian cookery and she was adding a new restaurant review to her blog.

If you spend any time at all online these days you simply can’t avoid reading something about blogs, they are becoming increasingly more popular; and they are a great way of building an online presence without the need for any technical knowledge. A blog is an abbreviation of the term ‘web log’ which is a relatively simple content management system.

Quite a few years ago, web surfers began collecting information and interesting links that they encountered during their online travels. As time passed they started to create logs of the information that they collected and they soon started to develop their own web logs. These web logs enabled them to update the information and links as often as they wished.

Blogs are more permanent than posts to an online forum or to a discussion list, they are much more dynamic than the traditional style home pages. They are also more personal than standard journaling, and definitely more public than diaries. A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person’s life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary site. So, there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people.

There are a few common characteristics of a blog, but there may be slight variations within the classification. Some blogs provide succinct descriptions of links within the chosen theme of the blog. Some others contain commentary and links to the news of the day. A few are endless stream of blurts about the writer’s day. Others are - political blogs, intellectual blogs, some are hilarious and some topic driven. They are all - Weblogs.

As mentioned earlier, blogs are posts that are short, informal and sometimes deeply personal no matter what the topic of discussion is. They can be characterized by their conversational tone.

If a person has a web presence but is disappointed with static homepage - if an elegant treatment of posts on a global platform is what they want, then ‘blogging’ provides an ideal platform. They may also consider blogging if they are seeking feedback from their chosen audience.

Weblogs are definitely the mavericks of the online world. Two of their greatest strengths are their ability to filter and disseminate information to a widely dispersed audience, and their position outside the mainstream of mass media.

There are many different options available to the new and seasoned blogger alike. Some blog scripts are available for you to install on your own domain and these require at least a basic understanding of FTP and HTML. There are many hosted blog services available some free and some paid. If you are serious about blogging then I would strongly recommend that you use the best system that you can afford and that meets your needs.

I personally have used the ‘Moveable Type’ stand-alone script and although quite complex to install, I found it very easy to use. My recommended choice of hosted blogging service would have to be the Blog4Cash.com system that includes a wide variety of high quality features and has a built in two tier affiliate scheme that enables you to generate a recurring income from all your referrals!

John Taylor - © November 2004.

About The Author

John is a prolific writer and is the author of several books including ‘Testing & Tracking’ (http://www.Test-and-track.com). John’s http://www.MarketersBlog.com weblog provides insightful comments on all aspects of online marketing and is well worth a visit! For information on ‘How To Get Paid To Blog’ click here now to visit… http://www.Blog4Cash.com

This article may be reprinted online, within ezines and newsletters on the condition that this resource box remains intact.

A blog is a type of website. It allows the website owner to easily write messages that get posted to the site automatically, often in a journal or diary-like style. A particularly appealing thing about blogs is that your readers can comment back to your posts fairly easily, and a continuous stream of fresh conversations result. (This is a good thing.)

Here are three reasons to consider getting a blog:

1.To Replace Your Ezine

If you currently publish an ezine, you may wish to consider replacing it with a regularly published blog. This means using your blog to publish journal entries, and then when it comes time to communicate with your subscriber list, you excerpt some items from your blog, and send those out as your ezine.

This saves you from creating special articles only for your ezine. In many cases it becomes easier for you to write in blog format (short and sweet) so you save time. Readers enjoy the practical, “reporter-like” nature of blogs instead of ezines, and gradually come to feel that they are in conversation with you on a daily basis. You become part of their everyday circle of friends and associates, which leads to you becoming their natural resource on the topic of your expertise.

2. To Create a Quick and Dirty Learning Environment or e-Campus

For those of you who offer TeleClasses or other programs that want to have a web page of learning resources, links, class notes and audio, etc., a blog can be a great way to bring together an e-Campus.

If you offer a workshop, coaching/consulting, or even a software solution, and you want to instantly add value to your clients, create a “client/student resource page” using a blog. This becomes an environment that the students can play in, study more, and soak up your materials. Your clients continue to benefit from your expertise even though you’re not physically there; they do it at their pace, and at little cost to you.

Once again, because blogging makes it easy for you to continually update your website without mucking around with FrontPage or DreamWeaver, you will save time and energy publishing to the Internet.

3.) Just For Fun, And To Be Cool

Let’s face it, a large part of the reason you’re wondering about blogs is because it sounds cool, right? And new stuff is fun. So why not try it just because? Sometimes it’s enough to try something because it stretches you, keeps you limber and awake to possibilities. There’s nothing wrong with playing, UNLESS you fool yourself into thinking your business is improving, or you’re somehow paying the mortgage while you play.

Rest easy, there’s no pressure to get a blog. Not getting one won’t negatively impact your bottom line. So although the technology can be entrancing, stay focused… what are you selling to who? How is it going? That said, do stay curious about new technology. Part of your chosen profession as an online biz owner means modeling for others by staying abreast of new things.

With that in mind, see some fun blogs at the blog search
engine: http://www.blogsearchengine.com/

Andrea J. Lee coaches entrepreneurs and online business owners. As Thomas J.Leonard’s General Manager, she helped build and manage the largest network and trainer of personal and business coaches in the world. Now the CEO of Andrea J. Lee Group of Companies, she writes, speaks and consults on Marketing, Internet and Business systems. For more helpful tips, visit www.39lessons.com

One of the reasons successful business blogging is working for small business is because of many of its direct and in-direct effects. In this series of articles, I’ll be talking about some of these effects and how they occur, including increases in traffic, better search engine results, and the enhancement of online company brands.

One of the other side-effects of successful blogging can be, and often is, an increase in sales. This occurs for a myriad of reasons, four of which I’ve listed below.

First, as you begin to consistently give your prospects information they can use, they return for updates on a regular basis. As they begin to see you as an authority on your topic matter, in their minds it seems less of a risk to buy from you as they begin to trust you more, and rightfully so.

The logic is that if you know enough to be able to blog effectively about your subject, then you’re knowledgeable in your field - which means that your product likely addresses a solution they’d be interested in purchasing.

Second, it illustrates that there is a human, approachable presence at your site. By blogging, you’re showing that someone is in fact “at home”, and that your web property is presently being maintained and updated, giving a prospective buyer more security as they weigh their options and approach a buying decision.

Third, the conversations that occur through blogging build a bridge of trust and loyalty. It’s human nature to tend towards the familiar, and to trust it. When you blog frequently, your return visitors see you as the familiar.

Once they become buyers, this trust can elevate to loyalty. They’ll begin to come to you repeatedly for information and when given the choice, will want to buy from you, the known, rather from someone else they don’t know.

Fourth, if you take care to configure your blog in a way that takes advantage of its inherent search engine friendly architecture, your blog can help your site show up for searches for more terms, bringing you both readers who are generally interested in your topic matter, and those who are looking for a solution and are ready to buy.

Many blog systems have some of the necessary tools that can help you optimize your blog for better search engine placement by manually configuring settings in the template or modifying the code to make it more compatible. But if you’re not a techie, or are a busy professional, you’ll want to find a system that incorporates all the most needed tools for you already.

An increase in sales is just one of the reasons blogs are working for business online, from the small business to larger corporations. With Google embracing blogs with the Google Reader and Blog search, and Yahoo including blogs as sources in the Yahoo News section, business blogging is no longer seen as a theoretical test for increased exposure. They are an essential component to your online marketing strategy.

Tinu Abayomi-Paul is the co-owner of Leveraged Promotion, which provides many solutions for companies who prefer to out-source their online promotion needs. You can read more about Business Blogs and Your Market Strategy in the Business Blog Promotion and News section at http://blog.leveragedpromotion.com