Category: Products & Services

Blogosphere Plus Pro-Blogging Equal Money!


Blog use expanded

A weblog – or simply blog – is a website that ‘publishes’ or features articles which are referred to as ‘entries,’ ‘blog posts,’ or simply ‘posts’ written by an individual or a group of people who utilize one or any combination of the many functions available in modern blogging software offered by the various platforms. Whereas the original blogging technology that existed two decades ago was limited to written content, the rapid advancement of digital technology has allowed blogging platforms to offer:

  • Straight text blogs;
  • Photograph or image blogs (photo-blogging);
  • Video blogs (video-blog);
  • Audio file blogs (audio-blogging), and;
  • Hyperlink blogs.

Typically, a blog is arranged in reverse chronological order and can be used for a variety of different purposes; but the most frequent uses of blogs, traditionally speaking, have been online journals, web diaries, content management systems and Web publishing platforms. These uses are more adaptable to blogs because the type and variety of components found in the standard blog were, and still are for the most part, more conducive to these uses.

Here are a few of those components:

  • Post date – The date and time of the blog entry
  • Category – The particular subject group to which a post most closely identifies
  • Title – The title or main theme of the blog, which should be relevant to the subject
  • Main body – What the writer actually conveys in the blog; the story told about a particular blog topic
  • RSS and trackback – A method of connecting blog “A” to several other blogs/sites via links
  • Comments – Commentaries added by readers (interaction) in the form of feedback and opinions
  • Permalinks – The method by which every blog post has its own unique URL
  • Other optional items – Calendar, Archives, Blogrolls, and various Add-ons and/or Plug-ins

Blog types

As in the same fashion that a blog is usually designed with a header, that same blog can also have a footer – found at the bottom of the blog – installed, if the owner so desires. Footers can show the post date, the author, the category, and the ‘stats’ (the number of comments or trackbacks). But a blog footer is not often as elaborate or stylish as the header, and therefore does not require a great deal of time spent creating it.

In so far as a blog’s subject is concerned, there are numerous types of blogs, comprised of various themes, interests and industries, including, but not limited to the following:

  1. Political blogs – on news, politics, activism, and other issue based blogs (such as campaigning).
  2. Personal blogs – also known as online diary that may include an individual’s day-to-day experience, complaints, poems, and illicit thoughts, and communications between friends.
  3. Health blogs – on specific health issues. Medical blog is a major category of health blog that features medical news from health care professionals and/or actual patient cases.
  4. Literary blogs – also known as litblog.
  5. Travel blog – with focus on a traveler’s stories on a particular journey.
  6. Research blogs – on academic issues such as research notes.
  7. Legal blogs – on law (technical areas) and legal affairs; also known as ‘blawgs.’
  8. Media blogs – focus on falsehoods or inconsistencies in mass media; usually exclusive for a newspaper or a television network.
  9. Religious blogs – on religious topics.
  10. Educational blogs – on educational applications, usually written by students and teachers.
  11. Collaborative or collective blogs – a specific topic written by a group of people.
  12. Directory blogs – contains a collection of numerous web sites.
  13. Business blogs – used by entrepreneurs and corporate employees to promote their businesses or talk about their work.
  14. Personification blogs – focus on non-human beings or objects (such as pets, plants, robots, etc.).
  15. Spam blogs – used for promoting affiliated websites; also known as ‘splogs’.

In amazing numbers

Blogging is typically done on a regular (almost daily) basis, a frequency that is almost expected, in view of the fact that the term “blogging” refers to the act of authoring, maintaining, and/or adding an article to an existing blog at regular intervals; while the term “blogger” refers to a person or a group who manages and maintains the blog.

Today, more than 152 million blogs can be found in the Internet; this according to Brandon Gaille, in his article titled, How Many Blogs are on the Internet. But the amazing thing is that, this figure is continuously growing; and as technology makes blogging software, tools, and other applications easier to use and more accessible for just about anyone to update or maintain a blog (even those with little or no technical background), who knows how much the number of blogs will increase.

Because of the growth rate of blogs and a trend towards personal ownership, bloggers can be categorized into four main groups:

  1. Personal blogging – Bloggers who focus on a diary or on any topic that an individual feels strongly or passionate about.
  2. Business blogging – Bloggers who focus on the promotional and advertising aspect of expression, usually to sell products and services.
  3. Organizational blogging – Bloggers who focus on internal or external communication within a community or organization.
  4. Professional blogging – Bloggers who are hired or paid to do blogging.

The money aspect of blogging

As with any other industry or popular vocation, blogging has reached the point where just about everyone with a computer and access to the Internet wants a blog, but not everyone is capable of managing one or even conveying the message he/she wishes the world to know. Enter the professional blogger, or as is more casually referred to, the pro-blogger, which is someone who blogs for a profit. Pro-bloggers, to put it another way, are people who make money from blogging (as an individual blog publisher or a hired blogger), and can be very much in demand from time to time, and depending on the subject.

Below are just some of the many money-making opportunities for pro-bloggers:

  • Advertising programs
  • RSS Advertising
  • Sponsorship
  • Affiliate Programs
  • Digital Assets
  • Blog Network Writing
  • Business Blog Writing
  • Non-Blogging Writing
  • Donations
  • Flipping blogs
  • Merchandising
  • Consulting and speaking

Where there is a money-making opportunity, many entrepreneurial-minded, enterprising and talented (as well as some not so talented) will be attracted to the opportunity; and as such, pro-bloggers of all stripes will make their services available. But they must know and understand a few things if they are to be effective at, and achieve success in, pro blogging. There are as follows:

  1. They must be patient. Pro-blogging requires a lot of time and effort, not to mention a long-term vision;
  2. They must know their audience. Targeting a specific audience or group is a key to building a readership;
  3. They must be an ‘expert’ on the particular subject. Focus on a specific niche topic and strive to be the “go-to” blogger on that topic, and;
  4. They must be willing to diversify. This requires them to experiment with various topics and add affiliate programs that enable them to make money online (aside from blogging).
  5. They must try not to bore their readers. Focusing on the blog layout can help in this area. White spaces, line spacing, and bigger fonts make a blog welcoming to read.

A blogging entrepreneur?!

If you have aspirations of becoming a pro blogger, it is quite possible that you will earn money from a vocation such as this; but keep in mind that in any entrepreneurial undertaking, it is necessary to take risks, and you must possess passion as well as a positive (be an optimist) attitude in order to be a successful entrepreneur, which is essentially what a pro-blogger is. Good luck!

Increasing Business Exposure Via the Blog


Blog: Practical for business!

The business blog has become a practical Web marketing tool that can save its owner thousands of dollars, while providing excellent and unique business opportunities with just a simple click of the mouse. Blogs have come to be known as user-friendly, customized and flexible media for disseminating useful information and posting effective propmotions of the owner’s products, services and/or brand cognizance.

Companies that engage in business blogging are considered to have a definite edge over their competitors, although that edge is not always immediately evident; but some of those advantages that can be recognized and sufficiently described are evidenced below.

Word-of-Mouth is the first such advantage and was identified in a survey conducted in the early years of blogging. It was determined at the time that 14 million blogs were in existence and 80,000 more were being added each day; but perhaps most stunning revelation during those years, was the finding which indicated that about 30 percent of the 50 million Web users at that time were blog readers.

Essential to the business blog

Of course the Web-use growth rate has exploded since those early days, but can you imagine how much benefit your company would have derived if your products and services were advertised through blogs even back then? And today, as was true then, information spreads so quickly via the Web that the advantages are even more pronounced, especially if an impressive write-up accompanies a particular product or service. Word-of-Mouth, if used strategically smart can ensure that your blogs will be shared with hundreds of potential customers.

Awareness and loyalty is another of those advantages of business blogging, but is dependent on open communication with the business’ customers, if that business expects to create trust and loyalty among them. In other words, being there (available) to provide prompt and satisfactory responses to customers’ questions and comments make them all the more willing to sample the business’ products and services.

Feedback is of course, a valuable resource of any business, and feedback from the readers of a business blog might be even more of an asset to that business because blogs have been proven to be good for product research and reviews in that regard. If you own a business, it would be easier to improve on your products by observing your customers’ thinking and behavioral patterns via your business blog; and you would also be able to take immediate action to allay your customers’ concerns.

The daily trade show effect

The community halo-effect, although not as distinctly identifiable as feedback, is nonetheless a desired result of the business blogger; because, as has been said on more than one occasion, bloggers are reasonable, friendly and helpful people who are more than willing to create a blogosphere of comments regarding any product they like, and if the product is yours, you get that benefit. The only thing you have to do is embrace ongoing events and take an active part in the culture which should lead to product being considered in their next stop to the supermarket.

For better marketing results, actively promote your business blogs by submitting them to blog search sites and directories; but be mindful to paste your blog URL in with the title and description of your blogs; and be sure that your blogs contain exclusive information with value and are kept updated so as to keep readers visiting your site and reading your blog; and before moving on to the next site, clicking again for updates.

A business blog is like a setup booth set up daily in the biggest trade show on earth with marketing possibilities just around the corner waiting to pump up sales volume. Add to that the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, which are as important as anything else mentioned already; and when used in conjunction with your blogs, RSS feeds will likely improve your business bottom line. Use effective keyword phrases to generate high ranking status in the search engine traffic, which will also help to improve the chances of people finding your website leading to your blog and increasing traffic which means more potential sales.

Setting up the blogging project

For this aspect of business blogging to be successful, you can use RSS for news update feeds, which can be read through the RSS reader application. This is a very useful tool for business blogs as well as internet marketing blogs. But if you are already convinced of the potential of a business blog for marketing and targeting sales increases, your company’s readiness for blogging should be complete. However, you must be in tuned with your company’s business objectives and determine if blogging will really help you achieve them.

Consider the following when setting up your business blogging project:

1. Many blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do’s and don’ts of blogging, so include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based to get a better idea.

2. Setup several test blogs right away.

If your initial effort with blogs worked well, you can start to set up your blogging enterprise along the lines of these modest suggestions:

Blogging setup considerations

1. Study blog design – Blog hosting services provide pre-designed templates. But if you opt for paid blog service, you can ask your graphic designer to create a design and layout your blog site to match the company’s identity and needs.

2. Choose a topic – Its good to have a line-up of topics you want for your blogs, but be sure they are relevant to your business objectives. This would be a test of your flexibility and open-mindedness, since results could go contrary to those objectives.

3. Remember the following safety measures in blogging:

  • legal issues are sometimes involved in blogging; it is safer to include disclaimers and limitations of liabilities;
  • corporate communication and legal department are responsible in educating the senior management on how blogs might affect business;
  • create blogging policies; set limits on who gets to blog and what information are allowed to be made public;
  • avoid outright marketing blog or you will shy away your readers;
  • make content updated, relevant and fresh;
  • reinforce the company’s core values; and,
  • encourage employees to use it.

4. Start blogging – complete 20 posts before going to marketing.

5. Regularly monitoring – Keep tabs on the coming ins and outs of readers and get updates. Then, measure your results.

6. Adjust if needed – You can always play with your designs in the blog site as long as it remains to match the company’s identity.

7. Strive to be great – Be consistent with your topic at all times.

8. Topic variation – Try to have unrelated topics with general and broad appeal.

9. Schedule updates regularly – Monday, Wednesday and Thursday would be best to update blogs.

Once you have done all these things, you can then ultimately enjoy the benefits of business blogging.

As a token of our appreciation the free e-book 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!

Digital & Electronic Products – Unbeatable in Quality and Price!