TP Javeton WebNet

Category: Niche Marketing

  • Technology, Platform Choice & Photo Blogging


    Photo blogging appeal

    There is a significant number of people on the Web who believe that photo blogging is the most exciting kind of blogging that exists; and while building a photo blog – and maintaining it – is no more difficult than creating and updating a text-based blog, many people feel that the internet’s high speed and full-color technology reaches the pinnacle of its appeal with the transmission of images. But what may be the most appealing aspect of this technology is the ease with which bloggers of all skill levels can upload photographs to their blogs on a daily, weekly, monthly or even occasional basis.

    For those who like photography, photo blogging is a great way to highlight self expression while reaching viewers in an emotionally charged and aesthetically engaging way; and surfing photo blogs can also be helpful in getting a whole new perspective on this global society in which we live. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the selection of a blogging platform could play as important a role in photo blogging as shopping for the right camera. Choosing a blogging platform, whether it is free or requires payment, can feel overwhelming based solely on the many options to choose from.

    There are several large blog-hosting platforms that dominate the blogosphere, but there are also less popular, smaller platforms a photo blogger can take a look at. But whether you decide to join up with an established platform like Blogger, WordPress or Technorati, or you choose to sign on with a smaller, relatively new venture depends on what your priorities are. It is certainly reasonable to assume that, for most bloggers – text-based, photo/video-based or otherwise – reliability will be among the most important reasons for choosing, and might therefore be the best reason to opt for a large and well known blogging site.

    Thematic content

    Of course it should come as no surprise that, many image blog owners are also photographers by trade, although the popularity of photo blogging continues to be very high among amateur shutterbugs, hobbyists and photography enthusiasts; and it seems self-evident that a majority of the most popular photo blogs have gained that popularity because the pictures on them are of the highest artistic caliber. If you guessed that a lot of the people who run these visually striking blogs are graduates of prestigious art schools and possess impressive professional portfolios, you would be right.

    However, some of the most well-known and frequently visited photo blogs are as notable for their concepts as they are for the pictures themselves. Some popular photo blogs, like the popular blog, “Cute Overload,” (this blog announced on January 18, 2016 that it was closing down) which features picture after picture of adorable animals, are more about the thematic content of the pictures than they are about the style in which the snapshots were and are taken. Keep in mind also that photo blogs, like many other Web-based entities, have established forums to display the work of highly skilled artisans whose work range from playful collections of curiosity to more serious photo-journalistic work.

    This shows that photo blogging is a truly diverse form; and the fact that photo blogs are so easy to build as well as to update makes this kind of visual communication very democratic, while enabling people (bloggers) at all skill levels to become a part of the global conversation about the nature and value of photography today. But whether you are an artist or hobbyist who wants to create a photo blog; or you are just somebody who enjoys learning about new places and things, spending some time looking at the most popular photography blogs on the internet can be a very rewarding endeavor.

    The world via photo blogs

    You can travel to another place or another time by viewing pictures of faraway locations and long-ago eras; and you can see your own neighborhood with fresh eyes by discovering how local artists have photographed (depicted?) the town or city in which you live. Photo blogging enables people to communicate all of these things plus a lot more; and this makes it a very exciting part of the modern blogosphere. If you agree that the best thing about web technology is the capacity to help people reach each other in a very personal way from across great distances, then you may also agree that in many ways, a photo blog is the most successful kind of web site.

  • Mobile Blogging: A Cutting Edge Phenomenon!


    The rise of moblogs

    Mobile blogging, the most exciting phenomenon to have swept the blogosphere since the World Wide Web was created in 1999, is one of the reasons so many bloggers are attracted to this activity; in addition to the enjoyment they get from it and the convenience of being able to make frequent updates to keep their visitors up to speed with current trends, issues and other relevant matters. Mobile blogs – also referred to as “moblogs,” – take blogging to a previously unreachable level by allowing users to post events literally as it happen.

    This new wave of moblogs via the seemingly non-stop activity of mobloggers, keep web users up to date with matters of importance – both good and bad – as they occur all over the world, thereby helping to make global communication faster and more accurate. Many people feel that the limitations of traditional (text) blogging have a lot to do with geography which – after all – is evidenced by simple physics, since the degree to which a blog could have been made current was directly related to how quickly the blogger returned home and boot up in order to update it; and the limitations were many.

    However, similar to how creation of the Web helped to fuel Internet growth to new and astronomical heights post Web/Internet integration, mobile blogging was the beginning of a thrilling new era when web-based communication could occur spontaneously from any location. Moblogging devices meant that there was almost nowhere on the planet which remained off-limits for bloggers once technology caught up with the desire of bloggers to expand their market to a global audience. But there was a time, not very long ago, when such expansion may have seemed unattainable.

    Desire outpaced technology

    The first moblog technology became available over fifteen years ago, but it is only the past five to six years that mobile web devices were made user-friendly enough to appeal to most consumers. As camera phones and other mobile technology become more popular, an increasing number of bloggers were getting away from their desks and hitting the streets. Moblogging was becoming much more widespread than it was in previous cycles, and mobloggers were quickly attracting a lot of attention from the blogging community.

    It is clear today (circa 2016) that moblogs have become a dominant force in the blogosphere, and for all intensive purposes, is expected to maintain such dominance for many years to come. So yes, by all implications moblogs are here to stay, if for no other reason than logistics; because, as indicated earlier, mobile devices make it possible to blog from the actual sites where events are unfolding, which is probably the most compelling reason why mobile blogging had – and still has – so many thrilling and compelling characteristics to have revolutionized the blogosphere.

    Moblogs fueling Web growth

    Consider for a moment that a moblogger with a camera phone can post blog entries from an auto show, ski event, or even at the foot of a podium during a presidential speech; or even from the stands during those final moments of the world series. These real life instances enable bloggers to experience the same real time thrills that live television coverage provides, but in a more democratic medium. The combination of mobility and individual control that moblogging provides places mobloggers on the cutting edge of modern communications technology, and it is hard to imagine that the number and prestige of moblogs will not continue to grow for decades into the future.

  • The Documentary Quality of Personal Blogging


    Blogs as documentaries

    There are plenty of blogs on the Web dealing with a wide variety of topics and vastly diverse functions; but many blogs primarily catalog of the life experiences of their owners; so from this perspective it can be said that personal blogging, when discussed in terms of genre, probably falls more frequently in the category of documentary than any other genre. And even though there are quite a number of blogs that focus on the collection of poetry and other forms of creative writing, the vast majority of personal blogs are most likely to be categorized as documentaries.

    When you think about it over the span of many years, making a documentary was meant to be an objective act of reporting the sights and sounds that the filmmaker, writer or photographer encountered. However, in contemporary times there was movement towards embracing that degree of subjectivity inherent in the documentary form. This means that modern documentaries often reflected the distinctive voice and sensibility of their creators, making today’s documentaries to revolve around personality, thereby – more often than not – blurring the lines between documentary and memoir.

    Blogs fall somewhere between these two genres, muddying the distinctions even further, an indication that the personal blog, documentary and memoir are now irrevocably intertwined for better or for worse. Although few bloggers think of themselves as making documentaries in any formal sense, every time someone sits down in front of a computer and types up a record of their day, s/he is documenting a personal historical moment. Examples of this kind of blogging are those things we take for granted in our daily lives.

    Fascination-driven

    Things like the way we use specific modes of transportation, or the kinds of products we buy, which may seem quite fascinating to people who live outside our environments, and are therefore fascinated with our lot is at the heart of many documentary projects. When people think about blogging, documentary is not very likely to be the first description they envision, but a few decades down the road it is very likely that todays blogs will be seen primarily as very subjective documentaries of our era. People of tomorrow will almost certainly look to the blogs of today for insight into our historical moment.

    Documentary may not be the aim of most people who spend time posting their thoughts and ideas on the Web; but in some ways, the documentary aspect of blogging is more of a side effect than a primary goal. However, the fact that so many people are interested in publishing these public Web diaries shows that personal blogs are about more than just rumination. The fact that bloggers are so stimulated by, and interested in, sharing their ideas with each other reinforces the idea that personal blogs are – in some ways – documentaries meant for public consumption.

    A perspective-based niche

    An undeniable truism is that documentaries appeal to people who are curious about alternate ways of life, and many people who regularly read personal blogs written by others are looking for this same kind of new perspective. However, this is not to say that vocations such as poetry and other forms of creative writing are deemed less appealing to blogging audiences worldwide; but rather, that each niche commands the attention of a specific section of the marketplace, with documentaries occupying the single largest share.

  • A Few Proven Email Marketing Strategies

    Email marketing: An evolution!

    Over the last decade – and in some cases, dating back even further – email marketing has evolved into a popular method of doing business on the Web, despite the fact that many business owners knew little or nothing (something that is probably still true today) about creating, managing and completing an effective email marketing campaign. On the other hand, there are marketers who are well versed in all aspects of email marketing; those who possess the knowledge, skills and experience in the use of effective strategies that will likely hold a significant advantage over their competitors who lack similar skills.

    This article will provide useful information for business owners who are hoping to improve their sales or website traffic through effective email marketing; and if, for any reason, you do not have a great deal of information about email marketing and do not fully understand the principles involved, one of the best ways of orchestrating a truly effective email marketing campaign is to hire a consulting firm with a proven track record in promoting business through email marketing to assist you in your endeavor.

    Similar to some traditional marketing methods such as radio, television and print media, the strategies governing email marketing are growing in popularity even while they are constantly changing. And as a business owner you probably already have enough on your plate trying to stay up to date on business practices in your own specialty, without having to use time, energy and finances necessary to also stay up to date on the latest changes in email marketing; so it is certainly understandable if your email marketing efforts come up a little short.

    Hiring a consultant

    So if you are that business owner who already have a full slate of responsibilities and obligations just to keep your current business running smoothly, it may be a worthwhile investment to hire an email marketing professional with a good reputation in the industry to manage your email marketing tasks for you. This individual would devote him/herself on a full-time basis to keep up to-date with the most effective email marketing strategies while designing an email marketing campaign for our business. This step alone would go a long way in helping you achieve your business-related goals.

    That having been said, it is important to point out here – something that you should keep in mind – that selecting a consultant from the many available options on the Web can certainly be overwhelming, although this is not a sufficient enough reason to ignore such a crucial part of this powerful income-producing marketing specialty. Generally, you should look for a consultant who has a great deal of experience, a proven track record, listens to your questions carefully, explains concepts simply and makes your project a priority.

    Among the proven email marketing strategies frequently used by business owners who opt to do their own work, is offering an email correspondence course on a subject that closely relates to their website, or the products / services they offer. These correspondence courses usually include a number of short segments, useful information, interesting tidbits and business promotional material. The simplest way to promote your business without having your correspondence course deemed as spam is to use a soft sell approach which subtly urge readers to make a purchase or visit your website for more information.

    DIY email marketing tasks

    Perhaps the least burdensome approach to email marketing for existing business owners is publishing and distributing periodic e-newsletters, a strategy which can be highly effective. An e-newsletter is very similar to a newsletter which is printed and distributed using conventional methods like postal mail delivery. The bulk of an e-newsletter should be quality content in the form of featured articles and short articles containing useful tips and product reviews. The e-newsletter may also contain graphical elements which could simply be graphic designs or graphics served via links.

    In the case of links to serve graphics, they can be formatted to send traffic directly to your website, as well as to other websites. The important thing to remember is, any e-newsletters you send out should contain some type of soft sell approach as enticements for your readers to visit your site. You should not make any blatant sales pitch(es) as this may result in the e-newsletter being looked at as spam. Just make sure to include a call to action urging the readers to either make a purchase or visit your website for more information.

    Test and evaluate!

    Regardless of the method of email marketing you opt to employ, one of the most important strategies is to evaluate the effectiveness of that email marketing strategy on a regular basis. This is critical because elements of your email marketing campaign which are not working should be weeded out. Likewise, elements of your marketing campaign strategy that shows a high degree of success should be utilized more often. A spike in sales or website traffic each time you issue an e-newsletter should be seen a sign to begin issuing e-newsletters more often. This type of evaluation and feedback can turn moderate success into a huge success.

    As a token of our appreciation the free ebook titled, Storytelling Marketing can be yours if you have any interest in the art of storytelling. All you have to do is download it here, enjoy the reading and learn how storytelling can be a powerful ally in any business or marketing pursuit!

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  • Use Video Blogging to Enhance Your Web

    Arrival of the vlog

    Video blogging is the process of posting (publishing to a blogsite) videos to the internet on a regular basis in much the same way that traditional bloggers post written text to their blogs. A video blog, casually referred to as vlog, is comprised of content that would otherwise be written in text, including the promotion of products, services and other ideas the vlogger may want his/her readers to know about.

    Sixteen years ago (January 2, 2000) when “Adam Kontras posted a video alongside a blog entry,” very few of us had heard of a vlog, since most bloggers at that time were engaged in the standard text blogging method. However, a huge swath of the blogging community use videos today, because they have been proven to provide several advantages over text; a better way of expression being only one of those advantages.

    Among some of the other advantages of vlogging, according to Debasis, in his article, What is Video Blogging and it’s Advantages, are:

    • Increased exposure
    • The ease with which videos go viral
    • Interactive and descriptive
    • Great for tutorials
    • Live video blogging
    • Money generating potential

    A videoblog requires a larger disk space on their respective sites, a faster server, and a whole new set of programs to support it; and vlogs can also be fed through RSS, the technology used to syndicate websites to other RSS aggregators. The video form of communication may entail a lot of resources, but it is certainly worth it in the view of those who would say that one picture is worth say a thousand words. There are even those who would say that video blogging far exceeds the picture-word ratio of that adage.

    Vlogging for Dollars

    Video blogging works for most people on the internet because it permits them to express themselves in the most basic form, the spoken word; but when view through the prism of a business opportunity or other such enterprising venture, the potential benefits could be numerous. In fact, video blogging has become one of the most powerful tools businesses use to show prospective customers the benefits of a product line or quality of their services. It’s akin to producing and airing a commercial for free; and if done through RSS, video blogging will be most instrumental in reaching a specific target market.

    Most folks like to see what they are going to buy, and some would even like to see proof and be sure that they are getting their money’s worth before laying out any amount of money on the product. When viewed in the context of a thirty-second commercial, the great exposure and enormous benefit derived from it, the effect of video blogging on a business’ marketing objectives can be very positive. Simply put, you show your product, potential customers watch it, and if they like it, they buy it; and if you present it well enough, they may buy the product even if they don’t need it.

    For many years things were pretty much static on the web, unlike TV, where there is continuous motion. So when a video blogger posts content that is mobile, that post is more likely catch an audience’s attention than not. Add to that medium, a clear, well-wrapped and beautiful looking image of your product parading across a video screen in all it’s glory made possible by video blogging, chances are you’ll get phone call orders in short order.

    Vlogging start-up tools

    If you are just starting a business you can create a video blog right at your own home, because all you need is your web camera, microphone, video software, and lights; and as long as you know how to use your camera you can start creating, and perhaps finish your video blog in less than twenty hours. This all supposes that you’ve invest in a good web camera – a higher resolution unit for better output, for example – which helps to present your goods in an optimum way to get the best video possible.

    You can make a short story or just capture your goods in one take as long as you make sure to get the best profile for each. Be as creative as you want to be, and in as many ways; and keep in mind that lights are important in any video production. Make sure you illuminate the area you are going to use (the production area) entirely, in order to create the best possible video blog. The brighter the area, the crispier the images will be; and you can also use lighting effects for added appeal to the presentation.

    Should you require sounds for your videoblog, you need a microphone; because it is important to record you voice as a voice over for promoting the product and its benefit to consumers. Sound is as important as images on a video blog; so it is advisable to make your sound effects as enticing in quality and tone as you make the lighting effects, in order to produce a great video.

    The flip side of vlogging

    You will also need video editing software, which can be any program, but you need this tool to finalize your work. With it, you can add sounds, delete some bad angles, or insert some still pictures as may be required. Some editing programs are user-friendly and can be used even with little or no knowledge about video editing. In fact, the editing tool need not be too sophisticated, because a simple video editing program should do the trick.

    While it is easy to overlook the background while concentrating on the more technical, style and design side of the production, it is important to carefully select your background, since background light has as much an affect on your presentation as foreground light; so make sure that the background and foreground light compliment each other.

    Video blogging is great for expression and provide all the other benefits listed above; but it also has a downside, in the sense that it could significantly slow down the computer so others may steer clear of it; and download time may also increase, especially if the customer is still using a dial-up connection. But don’t let these disadvantages prevent you from enjoying all the positive features of video blogging, which can certainly be be an alternative for you in any new business you’re contemplating.

    That having been said

    All that having been said, you may not even need any of the tools mentioned above to produce a video, because you can now transform any article into a video with just a few clicks and the right software. So keep text and pictures present in your blog posts, giving yourself the capacity to accommodate all possible visitors to your site.

    These days, the more creative you are in presenting your product to the market, the more you are likely to succeed; and video blogging offers an interactive way to promote and advertise whatever product or service you need to sell. Get your customers involve; because by doing so, you will impress upon them your content, your brand and any product advantages you offer. Sometimes, that’s all you need to make a sale!

  • Blogging for Beginners – A Reference Guide


    Originally, weblog!

    The blog – originally known as a weblog – is basically an online journal with which an individual can digitally write down, or record in a number of different ways, his/her thoughts, ideas, opinions and practically anything else that individual wants people to know about; and since blogs come in various styles, formats and settings – depending on user preferences – their rapid increase in popularity is hardly a surprise. In fact, many blogging platforms offer built-in features such as hyperlinks, straight texts, pictures and other formatting tools, and blogging platforms even allow you, the user, to place videos and mp3’s on your blogs.

    As you may already know, not everyone likes to write and, based on this aversion to writing, some bloggers choose to make their blogs more audio friendly by using spoken-word entries instead of writing texts. This is known as audio blogging, which often consist of the same subject matter as text blogs, except that it is spoken and not written. The same can be said about video blogs and pictorial (photo) blogs, which are often used by photographers and such other artists as may find the blogging medium conducive to their careers and other entrepreneurial pursuits.

    The basic blog contains these standard features:

    • The title – This allows you, the blog owner – or blogger – to label your post.
    • The body – This is your post content, whether its written, spoken or depicted.
    • Trackback – This is tool that allows other sites to be linked back to your blog.
    • Permanent link – The method used to provide every article you write with a URL.
    • Comments – This allow readers to interact, via the “comment box,” on your blog.

    Blogging: Useful for newcomers

    One of the advantages of blogging is the small number of templates as well as the simplicity of those templates; because unlike other websites which are made up of numerous individual pages, a few simple templates make it easier, more often than not, for blog users to create new pages since the blog already has fix settings that include slots for title, body of the post, category and tags.

    This is especially useful for first time bloggers because it provides the platform where they can start blogging right away without having to worry about site design, content for various pages, e.g. “About Us,” “Sitemap,” “SEO,” or other such concerns; and they can chose from a number of templates that the blogging platforms provide.

    Anyone who wants to start a blog can do so by becoming a member of one of the many available blogging platforms that suits his/her fancy or purpose; and once s/he becomes a member of a given platform, s/he will automatically be a part of that particular blogging community. of course, s/he can also browse through other bloggers’ pages, and link them back to his/her own blogs, in addition to making comments on other members’ blogs.

    An entrepreneur’s ad space

    Blogging is not just limited to personal usage, though; because there are a lot of blogs that follow specific themes such as: sports, politics, philosophy, social commentary, and an almost infinite number of other subject matters. These bloggers espouse on their specific themes; this way blogging becomes a medium in which people can share their knowledge and opinions about a variety of themes and topics.

    Some bloggers even use their blogs as a place – digital as it may be – from which to advertise, like some authors that utilize personal blogs to advertise their books; while other bloggers use their blogs to shed light on current issues, events, news, trends and catastrophes. And let us not forget the education establishment which utilize blogs as a very important part of reaching students, faculty and financiers, among others. Professors use blogging to document the lessons they have discussed and taught, making it easier for students who missed classes to easily catch up with their assignments.

    Entrepreneurs, mentioned briefly in the second paragraph, benefit from blogging by promoting businesses on their blogs; and with millions and millions of people logging onto the Web everyday, blogging has – no doubt – become a lucrative activity for these entrepreneurs, whether they are operating sole proprietorships, small companies, or mid-sized companies. Some bloggers who run online businesses use their blogs to promote their merchandise, while others profit through advertisement and affiliate sales.

    Uniqueness. Individuality. Personality.

    But by far, the most popular blog type is that which takes the form of a personal journal; because this is the kind that is often used by first-time bloggers. Individuals who want to document the daily struggle of their everyday lives, poems, rants, opinions, and other personal issues, find that blogging offers them a medium in which to express themselves.

    Bloggers often communicate within themselves; and this is truly one of the appealing things about blogging that attracts so many people to it. It creates a community of people sharing their ideas, passions, and comments with each other. But blogs vary in topics, themes, and set-ups which can be found in blog directories allow first-time users who want to get an idea of what the blogging world is all about to browse through multiple blogs using these directories. This way they can get an idea of what these blogging communities are like.

    Blogging is popular all over the world, because there are really no established rules in the blogosphere, although many bloggers try their best to adhere to “Best Practices.” But where self-expression and freedom of ideas are concerned, bloggers have the freedom to express themselves in any way they want. But the best thing about blogging is the fact that most blogging platforms are free; and there are numerous available on the Web to choose from, giving first time users an option of joining the specific blogging community that appeals to their interests.

    Begin with a directory!

    Just search any blogging directory and you will get a listing of numerous blogging platforms that are available on the Web. It’s easy to search a blogging directory, because it is organized according to category. This way you would get exactly what you are looking for. It can be said without much pushback, that blogging is really for everyone; and many users – seasoned bloggers and newcomers alike – find that it is fun, simple and easy to do!