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by Lee Gilbert
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Never Underestimate The Power of Blogging!

There must be some reason why some bloggers are more successful at making profitable blogs than others? Many entrepreneurs ask this question and come up with different answers. Can blogging really help to promote my business? The simple answer to this question is yes blogging is a very powerful way to promote your business. However it all boils down to having a system for blogging that you can implement over and over again. The most successful bloggers will have one in place that allows them to develop their business into a very profitable concern.
 
5 steps for a successful blogging system:
 
  1. The post: Your post needs to not only attract readership but keep them interested.
  1. You can do this by choosing topics that your market has a keen interest in.
  2. Write in a style that is appealing and easy to read
  3. You can make your post in the form of an article which will be 300 to 750 words long. This is an easy and simple format for readers to understand.
 
  1. Links: in order to drive traffic to your blog and website, you should have a couple of links embedded within the post. One will link up to your own site and another will network into your article at an article directory, twitter, facebook, hub page or another blog etc. it is best to make these anchor links so that they fit into the flow of your post.
     
  2. Where to post: there are a number of free blogging sites. Here are 3 well-liked ones.
  1. Blogger.com: is familiar to most people. This site is owned by Google and Googlebots will crawl the site on a regular basis. This means they will follow your links and index your web page within 48 hours.
  2. Wordpress: this is another popular site. You can also use wordpress to populate blogs onto your own website. They have a variety of different templates to add a touch of class to your blog.
  3. Hubpages: This is a site which is used by many bloggers. You can upload an interesting article to your hub page on any topic you want. Your next step is to then link it to your blogs, articles, or web pages etc. so that you expand your blog network and draw visitors to your site.
 
  1. When to post: in order to keep your readership interested it is wise to update your blog at least once a week. If you do not do this your readers will get bored and go off to read other people’s blogs and those bloggers can often be your competitors.
     
  2. So now you have your system in place. Just write an article, put your links in it and post on a weekly basis. Repeat this again and again and you will be one of the successful bloggers.
    As well as using your blog system you will need to drive traffic to these blogs. We have already mentioned building a blogging network. Now it is time to explore some more methods for driving traffic to your blogs
    3.  
3 ways to drive traffic to your blogs:
 
  • Article distribution: One of the best ways to drive targeted traffic to your blog is by article distribution. You can submit your article to the major article directories like Ezinearticles.com, Goarticles.com etc. or you can use an article distribution service.
  • Your subscriber list: let your subscribers know about your blog. If they are interested in your newsletter or mini course they may very likely take a look at your blog and even follow your links.
  • Pinging and Social Bookmarking: Always ping your blog. You can do this by pingomatic.com and social bookmark with onlywire.com. Remember to tweet and use facebook.com manually as onlywire.com does not always populate these sites.

 

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posted by: Lee Gilbert
1st Jun 2010
5 Ways To Build A List Today

 

Can you imagine a car without a steering wheel or a stereo without speakers? This is what many online businesses are like. They are incomplete because they are missing out on a very important aspect of their business. They do not have a way to build their business list.
 
Why build your business list?
 
Your list is your key foundation point to your business. Here is the reason why. Your list provides you with the following benefits:
 
  • Leads who are interested in your product and may very likely buy from you in the future
  • Customers who have already bought from you but may very well buy other products from you.
  • Subscribers who want to hear about new products
  • Subscribers who may recommend you and your products to others.
  • Subscribers who may like your products so much that they will become your sales people or affiliates.
 
What tools do you need for list building?
 
An autoresponder: an autoresponder is your best friend. You can use it for so many tasks. Here are a few:
 
  • To manage your lists
  • Send out publications like your newsletter
  • Send out announcements, ads, new product announcements, mailers etc.
  • Thank you letters to customers
  • FAQ sheets
 
Free giveaways: like free reports, free mini courses and my favorite a free newsletter or ezine. 
 

Building your list with viral marketing

 

1) Free giveaways are viral marketing at its best. They usually have links in them to subscribe to your free newsletter and one link to a product or affiliate product. The more people who download them, the more opportunities you have for people to sign up for your list.
 
2) Free reports are about a popular topic in your industry. This ensures that they will have a high ratio of people downloading them.
 
3) Mini courses are daily short lessons that people can act on today. Again they are on popular topics in your industry that your market wants to know about. At the bottom of every lesson or at the beginning you will mention your newsletter and a link to subscribe. You can also offer one of these free gifts as an incentive for people to subscribe to your newsletter.
 
Landing page (Squeeze page)
 
This is like a mini sales page for your free mini course, newsletter or report. There are certain components that you should include in your squeeze page:
 
  • List the benefits of joining your list.
  • Offer an incentive: When you offer a free subscription you can also offer one of these free gifts as an incentive for people to subscribe to your newsletter.
  • Have a way to subscribe: Always remember to have a web form for your visitors to subscribe to your list
  • Critically, remember the principles of M.W.A (Most Wanted Action) - so that your form and call to action is "above the fold" so the user does not have to scroll down the web page to see your M.W.A
 
Ads in related ezines
 
You can place ads in related ezines and newsletters. You can also do ad swaps with other list owners when you have 100 subscribers and up. Here you have a choice of ads.
 
  • Classified: This is a short 6 line (60 characters) ad that is placed towards the end of the ezine. They are the cheapest paid ad and are ideal for split testing and seeing if the ezine list is responsive to your ad.
  • The second type of ad is a Top Sponsor Ad. You are usually allowed up to 10 lines (60 characters) for these ads. They are placed at the top of the ezine, usually before the featured article. This allows you the greatest exposure, for your ad and you can expect a good response if you have done your testing before placing the ad.
  • The final type of ad and one that many prefer are the Solo ads. These get sent out as an individual ad to the whole subscriber base. They are the most expensive and you will expect good response from these ads. 
 
Ads on related websites
 
For this type of advertising you will use classified ads. An important factor for success is to choose websites that are related to your market but not your competitors. A second thing to consider is the amount of traffic the website is drawing. Of course you may have to pay a little more, but the increase in your subscriber base will be worth it. Always track and record your results so that you know which websites are responsive and need repeat ads.
 
Blogs and article distribution
 
This is a powerful way to build your list. Success depends on a few factors.
 
  • Quality: In order to get your blogs and articles read quality is a must. They should be appealing to your market and informative. Always check for grammar and spelling.
  • Bio or resource box: This goes at the end of your articles and is very important. Offering one of your free gifts like a free mini course or free report will help you be successful.
  • Links: Your links in your blogs are critical to your success. Try not to put more than 2 in the blog. You can link up to an article on your web page, product, or another blog etc.
 
With these few points you will be able to build your list with responsive subscribers and develop your business into a profitable enterprise.
If you are only doing some, rather than all of the above, you may want to look again at your list building strategy and implement the missing ideas.
 
Of course, there is Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing, Email Marketing and lately Facebook Ad Marketing to add to the above - but that is for another time...
 
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posted by: Lee Gilbert
26th May 2010
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