There is no doubt that blogs are the “it” thing today in the online world. Wherever you surf, blogs are sprouting everywhere like mushrooms, whether they’re used for personal or business purposes. But for starters, what is a blog anyway? It is a diary where you can post your thoughts or feelings or whatnots, except that it is online and the public can read it. But enough of that. Gone were the days when they were used solely for personal reasons. On the business side, they can be a very useful tool to boost your business, and to keep your customers updated on the products and infos you have. But if you’re still struggling to catch up on the latest thing these days and you think you’re not much of a great writer either, let me give you some useful subjects you can write about to give your customers a lot of reasons to keep coming back to your site.

1. News. Okay, so maybe that’s basic. After all, your company or business is the reason you put up a blog, right? Write about the products you sell. Give them a bit of the benefits your potential customers might get for buying them, with a link back to your main site to read the entire sales letter. You can also write about updates to your product. Post news about the industry you’re in. If you’re selling products that help people get better search engine rankings, write about search engine news. Or, if you or your service has been featured on TV, papers, or notable websites, write about it. Don’t forget to post seminars or gatherings where you’ve been invited.

2. History of your business. Maybe this one has already been in your main website, but who cares? People forget it. They come and go and chances are, when they visit your site, they don’t read it. Write about how you began, the reputation and achievements you’ve earned, and the accolades or awards you received, with a link back your site. That way you’ll let them know why they should buy from you, and that you’re a real person who’s building a reputable business. Add some employee’s profile if you have someone working for you, too. If you have nice traffic or site stats, that’s also worth mentioning.

3. Customer’s feedback. When a raving customer emails you about how your product has helped him, share it in your blog. You’re giving your visitors a compelling reason to buy from you.

4. Site of the week / month. Mention a site that doesn’t compete with you but complements to your won. Explain to them why you like it, and why it deserves your accolade.

5. Contests, surveys, trivia, questionnaires. If you’re running a contest, post it in your blog to encourage visitors to join. Get their attention by including the prizes, a bit of the rules, with a link back to your site for more information regarding it. Or put a survey. That could give you information regarding the product you’re selling, as to how you could develop it further.

6. Tip of the day. Write about a new tactic you developed or something you learned and perfected.

So there. Whatever your business is, no doubt there’s always something you’ll definitely want to write about. Give it a try. And it will reward you soon.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/blogging-articles/6-things-to-post-on-your-blog-when-youre-running-out-of-ideas-1582431.html

MaxBlogMoney.com

Hey there, I want to talk to share with you why a blog is the easiest way to make money online, especailly for those of you just starting out. I’ll also give you a small lesson overview on what you will need to do, start to finish, to begin your successful online business with a blog.

Ok, there are four main reasons why a blog is the easiest way to develop a solid income online…

First, A blog is very easy to manage. Anyone, no matter what their website or blog experience, can install, build, and maintain a blog with out a problem and for very little cost.  On top of that the blog platform makes it extremely easy for the administration (blog owner) add content, change appearances, and maintain quality.  Virtually everything within the admin area of a blog is self-explainable (WordPress has very good forums to answer questions).

Second, blogs are extremely user friendly.  They give your visitors many options, which are of course, determined by the blog administrator.  Direction can be clearly mapped out for any visitor through archives, searches, and tag clouds.  In addition to the organization of a blog, they can be easily setup to give a targeted visitor exactly what they are looking for, whether it be strictly content or a product or service, thus increasing user friendliness through simplicity.

Third, blogs get the most exposure of any other websites on the internet.  Its versatility and ample content make it prime for search engine rankings. If you develop a quality blog, you can literally take over the search engines for the keywords you desire. This makes it possible for your blog to attract thousands of visitors each  day once an authority is obtained.

Fourth, the income potential is pretty much limitless.  You are getting thousands of targeted visitors, now just simply offer them the products and services they long for.  This will make your visitors happy, as well as yourself when your bank account begins to grow tremendously. Infact, a blog has the potential to make well over $1,000′s per month.  Add a list building campaign and then you have 100,000′s of potential buyers at your disposal…and you know exactly what they want!

Short Blog Lesson

Step 1:  The Start

Choose a domain name that is consistent with your blog niche, this will help with search engine optimization.  Make sure you have a hosting account.  This is the bridge your website needs to get to the World Wide Web. Most hosting companies you Cpanel as your domain manager.  Either way, you want to access Fantastico deluxe (install wizard).  There you will find a WordPress installation and then install.

Step 2: Blog Guts

Plug-ins need to be installed, but not just any plug-ins.  Specific plug-ins will help your blog results more than others.  Specifically Maxblogpress Ping Optimizer, All-in-one Seo Package, wp-stats, are must haves to be able to optimize your blog and track your visitors.  Plug-ins for added appearance and hightened user quality are also helpful.

Theme’s are very easy to install within a WordPress Blog.  The themes I recommend have built in search engine optimization attributes and can be easily monetized (made profitable). A specifc one is Small Business SEO theme.

Permalink structures are very important for search engine optimization.  When publishing a post, the default wordpress permalink assigns a number (permalink # example: www.gvoteamlovelife.com/22).  This is no good, you want the number (22 in the example), to be the post title and category(permalink-right example: www.gvoteamlovelife.com/MLM/profits).  MLM being the post category and profits being the post name.  This can be changed in the setting area of your blog.

Step 3:  Blog Content

Quality + Readability = Profitability.  You want to write reader friendly content and make sure the content flows in a manner that is understandable for every potential reader.  If your content is sour and lackluster, readers will leave and never come back, and hey there goes your potential income!  Make sure you have fresh content over a long period of time as well.  New posts everyday or at least every other day is ideal and no duplicates, its not helpful!

Step 4:  Blog Profitability

First is Google Adsense  of course.  a and placement are critical with Google Adsense.  The most profitable means to make money with a blog is through affiliate programs and products.  Simply post relavant banners on your blog that will grab your targeted traffic’s attention and watch them buy.  This is where the real income starts pouring in.  If you do place some banners on your blog, write some reviews on those specific products you are advertising for even more targeted traffic.

Well that’s a small overview of a blog for money from start to finish, but hey, you’ve got to start somewhere.  I suggest you check out MaxBlogMoney.com.  We are giving away free blog lessons, from start to finish, that are way more in depth than the overview I just gave you.  Either way, I hope this article has given you some insightful information about blogs, their simplicity, and their potential.

Happy Blogging My Friends…

Hey there, I am Shannon Murphy as you know. I have been in the Internet Marketing business for about 3 years now, but have recently just found the true potential of blogs and how they can help my business and build my income. Some of the blogs I have built include http://www.gvoteamlovelife.com, http://www.maxblogmoney.com, and I have optimized many more. Take a look at them, and happy blogging guys! Oh yeah and look out for Max Blog Money Pro Blog 2010 Edition!

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/blogging-articles/starting-an-online-business-blogs-make-it-possible-1558442.html

Before we move forward I want to talk about getting traffic and why most bloggers get it wrong.

Up to 89% of blog owners think about traffic as hits, and put people alltogether. They’re looking at traffic as statistics, and forget the basics – at the end of the other line there’s a breathing human being; with probably the same problems, wants and needs as you.

If these bloggers would not look at traffic as hits, and will give thought on who they really want to attract, and who are they really talking to on their blog, traffic generating won’t seem hard anymore.

Yes, for most bloggers traffic generation is rocket-science.

When you master the basics, blogging for traffic will seem a total breeze. Just look around, and notice the pro bloggers out there. Do you think they’re hunting for traffic? Not at all; they’re probably not actively generating traffic. They make traffic work for them.

Here is an illustration to make my point across:

Imagine blogger A [the newbie] on the other side of the road… trying to attract the attention of the audience [the cars on the street and folks around] holding a BIG red sign “Visit my blog ->”

Now picture blogger B [the professional] who has an entire army of people and cars advertising on his behalf, all across the road.

89% of bloggers are trying too hard to get their traffic; they’re publishing articles and writing blog posts; dabbling with SEO, Twittering, forum marketing, and so on.

A small percentage of the bloggers out there recognize the power of leveraging so they’re taking advantage of other people’s traffic, rankings and authority.

If you want to get on the boat of pro bloggers, then you have to act like they act and do what they do:

Step #1 – think BIG and keep your focus [know who are you really talking with; who's your ideal client?]

Step #2 – run interviews, ad swaps and blog roll exchanges with like-minded bloggers in your field and industry

Step #3 – never pay for advertising unless you have your metrics tested and proven [for e.g. you know exactly your visitor value - click and lead revenue]

If you know that for each visitor to your blog, you’re making $1 a month on average, then you probably could afford to pay 50 cents per unique visitor; you’d reap half a dollar as profit, right?

For more pro blogging traffic methods, check out the “$365k Blog Traffic Formula“

ProBlogging Traffic Methods

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/blogging-articles/the-blog-traffic-formula-for-higher-google-rankings-1546645.html