Businesses now have an incredible means of developing loyal customers online. Even if your core business is offline, you can take advantage of getting the word out through social media and blogging. It amazes me how many businesses just don’t get it (which is why I host social media and blogging workshops). And here’s the problem I’ve found:

Small businesses tend to be limited in their budgets. They are many times run by persons who may not have had larger business marketing experience, and they tend to have to focus on day-to-day issues that arise and don’t feel they have the time to blog, or promote their blog through social media. Not true.

Setting up a blog can cost as little as $10 per month, if you use all the default setups and templates of Wordpress (free, if you use blogging websites, although I recommend using your own domain. You want to build your brand, not someone else’s). And, if you use a professional, it can cost as little as $350 (which is what I charge - shameless plug).

Also, I teach people how to blog in only fifteen minutes per day. Granted this tends to be unrealistic, but only because people aren’t generally prepared to speak about their business, so it takes them awhile to figure out what to write about. However, in the ideal situation, where a business owner has, or they have hired someone who has, the ideas and ability to write about those ideas, one can spend only fifteen minutes per day on a blog post (I have spent about four minutes writing this post so far).

Why do it? Well, blogging allows people to see what’s happening from day-to-day in your business. Through your blog you tell them about specials they might not otherwise know about; you give them incentive to come into your establishment to take advantage of specials or coupons you posted in your blog; you build a network of customers who are informed and will be loyal to you because you keep them informed; and, you are able to get real-tome feedback when someone wants to express themselves about your business, the service they received, or the products you carry. All of this contributes to your being a better business.

Blogging and social media are the new forms of communication online. You need to make them part of your marketing plan, and if you can’t maintain the content, then hire someone who does. There are plenty of people who will professionally write for your blog or social media sites on a pay-per-post agreement. Get started now so you are not left asking why you didn’t, later.

People who search on specific subjects tend to search mostly by the words they think are relevant to the results they want to find. For example, If a person wants to purchase an RV (recreational vehicle, otherwise known as a motorhome), and wants to know what the price and/or ratings are, they might search using these keywords:

Now, if I own a blog on RV’s, and have written a post on how to find “RV ratings” on the Internet, then I would want to make sure that I repeat that keyword phrase throughout my post. You can also use each of the keywords in the phrase within your post to ensure further relevancy. This assumes, of course, that you have submitted your blog to the appropriate search engines so that they are indexing your site content on a regular basis (this is a future article).

So, let’s write a post that illustrates this point. We’ve highlighted the keywords and keyword phrases in red.

Title: RV Ratings and You

Post: RV Ratings are an invaluable way to ensure you make a good RV buying decision. Most motorhome rating web sites express the thoughts of recreational vehicle owners. By reviewing their ratings related to their particular RV, you have the ability to gain, otherwise unavailable, knowledge of that particular RV and model. Look for ratings that show, not only the aesthetic features of an RV, but also the mechanical features. In this way you will be able to find the motorhome, 5^th wheel, trailer, bus conversion, or van conversion best suited for you.

Did you notice how many times the keywords and keyword phrases can be used in a blog post? Of course, this was a quick example, but you can craft a well-written post in a short period of time, while still using all the keywords necessary to make your blog post relevant.

So, the next post you write in your blog will now be search engine friendly, and drive more traffic to your blog. Let me know how it goes, and please send me a note when you see successful results.

Even in its infancy a blog can have a great deal of traffic, but is that traffic able to be monetized? Only if they come back. This means that when writing your blog you have to engage the reader and make them want to read more, especially what’s not written yet. The way to do this is to have them subscribe. Here’s why…

This accomplishes a number of things:

1. Build a following
2. Generate repeat traffic
3. Develop an expert qualification
4. Ability to monetize content

Counting blog subscribers is also a great way for others to value your information. It validates to others that your content is worth reading and how popular it is. It allows others to see that you have long-term readership. Subscribers also give a good indication of commitment on your part. If you continue to write useful information, they will come back.

Subscribers are usually split into two groups: email subscribers and RSS subscribers. Know this, though, if a person has subscribed to your blog for any reason, it is a commitment on their part, and it is up to you to fulfill that commitment. Stay current on your blog, and always provide fresh perspective. And don’t forget to communicate with your readers… they are your lifeline.

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I have found that there are relatively few (that can be found anyway) companies that make it easy to monetize your blog. I haven’t found all of them yet, but will share with you those that I use.

Of course, not all blogs are the same, and not all will have the same result. However, if you are diligent in your efforts, analyze your traffic, and write regularly, you can make money from your blog too!

First of all, the most widely used program is probably Google Adsense. They provide an easy interface to both retrieve online ad code, but also to receive money. I have my revenue sent directly to PayPal (mostly because it is easy to buy things using PayPal, but also because I can wire transfer directly to my bank account from PayPal’s interface.

Second, I think Kontera is very useful to publishers, especially because it doesn’t interfere with Google Adsense in any way. It is a keyword driven ad service that highlights certain words in your content, and when a visitor mouses over the double-underlined word, a ad layer pops up. Non-intrusive and relevant. A simple copy-and-paste of their code into your footer enables the ad serving ability.

Third, I think I would go with Text-Link-Ads. This is a simple link ad option that allows you to show advertising links (probably in a sidebar). The advertisers pay TLA to put them on your site, and then their link shows up after you have installed the code. The code install is not the simplest, but once you do it, and make it work, you can forget about it. You can have up to 10 advertisers, each paying varying amounts. Figure $25 each, which can be $125 for you.

I am currently trying out Chitika, which displays non-contextual ads, but only if someone comes to your site via a search engine, having typed in keywords. The keywords trigger the ads, and the ads only show up on the page if they come from that search result to your site. Otherwise no one knows you have the code in your pages. I tried this out on only about 300 pageviews/day, and have averaged $.50/day. Taht’s about $.05 per pageview. I am going to put it in all pages eventually, which should provide for $200/mo or so. Hey, who’s complaining?

Anyway, do a search for these programs, see what others are saying, and then let me know through comments what you think.

Turn your blog into a book!

I just saw an ad on Facebook that sent me to a site where they will create a softcover (or even just a PDF) of one’s blog. I thought this is a great idea, except for a few caveats.

First, if I was to do that, I would not be so spontaneous with my posts. In other words, I would actually design each post to be part of a different chapter in the book. For example, I would use the categories to organize the thoughts of one chapter. Each post would be a portion of the chapter, and I could write in whatever order I chose as long as I controlled the content through the categories (or chapters).

Second, I would want to make sure that I used high enough resolution photos (or at least had access to them), so that when I did go to print I would have high enough quality photos to be able to print.

Third, I would make sure the blog was exclusive to the subject I was going to end up printing the book about. Which, now that I think about it, would be a great idea since this in itself would be keeping me focused.

Now, the benefits I see to this are:

1) I would be able to write over a period of time using the same discipline I have when writing my blogs.
2) I would be able to have all my readers give me feedback,a cting as editors themselves, which would refine my story over time, making it better.
3) Although those who follow the story as I write would be less likely to buy the book (or maybe not), whatever revisions I made would be retroactive, so, if they really wanted to see the final product, they would have to buy the book.
4) I could monetize the blog/book, over the time I write it so as to fund the project, and see residual returns, and still keep full control over the book.
5) I could take pre-orders of the book so that I could actually publish myself.

Wow! Think of the possibilities… Let me know your thoughts on this, and I’ll see if perhaps I can test it out myself. Please leave a comment!

This content originated on Blog4Funds.com

In the old days, we only had professional reporters who would write news. A group of people called editors would decide if the articles were a good fit for the newspaper or magazine, and then print it. The only way one would see it is if they purchased that particular periodical. Enter the 21st century…

Anything happening on one’s life is news to someone else. So, anyone can create news. You might say, “Hey! I got a promotion today,” and others would reply, “That’s great news!” Facebook is an excellent example of this. But, what if you want to tell more about that news, or perhaps share an idea, or explain a concept? Then, more is needed… a blog.

A blog allows anyone to share information with the world on any subject. There are over 74 million blogs in the world, and rising. You now are the reporter, and depending on your topic, people will read what you have to say. The more narrow your topic, the more limited the audience. The more broad the topic, the wider reach.

Whatever your interest, there is someone out there who wants to share your thoughts. However, if you want to monetize your blog and make money, then you should choose a subject that a lot of people are interested in. The more interest, the more traffic you can generate, the more money you can make. Of course, you have to be able to express yourself, and in a way that doesn’t frustrate people. So, not all 74 million blogs are useful to everyone.

Keep checking back on this blog, and I will tall you how to monetize your blog so you can make money. It is not a get-rich-quick prospect, and requires devotion, but, if you are diligent and willing to devote at least 15 minutes per day, you can generate revenue.

This content originated on Blog4Funds.com

Tweet your blog for promotion

I wanted to tell you how I am using the Google Analytics and Twitter promotion together, and how to gauge the success of your promotional efforts. This assumes that you have signed up for and installed the Google Analytics code into the footer.php file of your Wordpress blog. Now, here’s what to do…

First of all, you should be building up a following on Twitter. Set a reasonable goal, perhaps one hundred legitimate followers before you start to promote the blog. Of course, in the meantime you are posting to your blog, submitting to search engines, blog directories, and the like to build traffic on its own.

Secondly, after building your goal following, write a post that relates to Twitter. No matter what your blog topic is, use relevant keywords that describe both Twitter (social media, tweets, etc.) and your blog topic (in this case, blogs, monetize, income, etc.).

Now, as soon as you publish your post, open a new browser window and log in to your Analytics account. Print a PDF of the activity, and for yourself, average out the daily activity. This average will serve as the basis for your test.

Now, go back to your Twitter account, and tell your followers that you have a new blog and give the URL. Then write another tweet telling them you have an article specific to your topic and Twitter, and give that URL.

Track your activity in Google, especially look for that activity coming from Twitter. There is a better way to do this using goals, but we’ll have to make that for a later post, when we are all more advanced. <wink>

I hope this helps, and leave me a comment to tell me if you tried this and what the results were. Thanks!

This content originated on Blog4Funds.com

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should is the rule-of-thumb for me. I have tried automated content generators, and all they do is duplicate content on the web, just like everybody else using these tools, and they take away the very thing that will ultimately make you money - integrity.

I already know how to search Google News (or the like) for information that is available. Granted sometimes we find a valuable tweet that we didn’t know about, but, for the most part, it’s all duplicate. What someone doesn’t have is what’s in my brain… until I write. Then it is absolutely fresh and unique. If it’s relevant to a persons interest, than they will follow. It’s the right way to build a business.

So, when you are thinking about writing your blog, tweeting about it, sharing with your Facebook friends, or answering a question on LinkedIn, make sure the ideas are your own. No one can ever say your integrity was compromised, and your followers will be loyal.

This content originated on Blog4Funds.com

Social Media promotes Blog traffic

I know I am jumping a little ahead at this point, but there is a reason for it. I’ve discovered that I have been doing things a little backwards. Here’s what I mean:

I have been in the habit of setting up the blogs and trying to promote them before I really build a base in the social media sites. What I have now discovered to do is to build a following first, then build the blog. This accomplishes a couple of things:

1. I become an authority first so that people want to know if I have a blog, and
2. I build a loyal following that will then support my blog.

So, here’s how to do it:

First, depending on what your blog topic is going to be about, choose a relevant and understandable username on your social site of choice. Since Twitter is easy to talk about, we’ll do that first. (Now, many of the names are already taken so make sure you think long and hard about what specific keywords you will have in your username - Twitter will tell you if the name is taken at the time you type it in)

Second, start posting your thoughts, which will be the same thoughts you will turn into posts. Be casual, don’t cuss, be helpful. If you offend, you won’t gain the following you want, and thereby won’t be preparing to turn your audience into blog subscribers, who may click on ads, or buy your products, or whatever turns the money machine on.

Third, don’t rely on just having numbers of followers. Go their posts, see if they are legitimate and not just using Twitter to sell you something. Block them if you have to so that your list becomes one of legitimate followers.

Fourth, set a goal to decide how many is enough, and then turn them over to your blog by linking to relevant posts. Follow a pattern that they can start to trust, and track them using Google Analytics. In fact, you can set goals in Analytics that can help you to see what your success rates are.

So, what’s the summary? Use social media to become an expert first, then drive traffic from those sites to your blog to achieve specific goals.

This content originated on Blog4Funds.com

Whatever you choose to do, make sure that you like it, you can write about it, it interests others, and a post per day is not too much.

This content originated on Blog4Funds.com