What Is A Blog? Millions of people are doing it, from CEOs and business owners to stay-home mums and students. I like the definition used by Blogger: “In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what’s new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.” I think of my blog as my online journal, a place to record my thoughts and experiences and to share them with a few, or with many. It’s a lot easier than building a website, and best of all, it’s free (if you use free hosting platforms like Blogger or WordPress). Why Blog? Blogging has at least 3 great benefits. An easy way to establish your web presence with minimum cost Unlike a website, a blog is easy to set up, even if you are new to the Internet, and it doesn’t have to cost you a cent. (Okay, maybe it might cost you .95 a year if you want it hosted on your own server with your own domain name, which absolutely looks more imposing than having a URL that says http://yourblog.blogspot.com). Keep in touch with visitors and potential customers easily A blog offers a friendly, unintrusive way of updating lots of people without the hassle of writing separate emails. You can even add it to an existing website to post product or news updates. Connect to new audiences easily New technology like RSS feeds and audio and video clips make it easy to offer a variety of ways to “talk” with people. You aren’t limited to text anymore. But the main difference between a website and a blog, is that a blog is dynamic. New articles that you post to your blog are moved to the top and get read first, while older ones are archived. This is significant, because it means your content is constantly new and fresh, dissimilar from a website which you set up and then leave there to attract traffic. Or not. Can I Make Money From A Blog? Why not? Millions of Internet marketers already use their websites to promote affiliate programs, ezines, newsletters, MLM opportunities and how-to information products. A blog is just one more type of website. On the other hand, you and I know that having a website is just the first step. In the offline world, the key to sales success is Location. Online, different rules apply. It’s about Traffic. Without Traffic, without a constant stream of visitors who have the potential to convert into paying customers, your website will fail. The secret to online accomplishment is being found. And few site owners know how to do this well. If you think about the billions of websites on the Internet, standing out really is a tall order. If you want to learn the concept of make money blogging browse through the different pages on the Internet. For sure you will learn a lot. Make money with blog is a trend these days and many are actually earning a lot from it.

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What is a blog, you ask? Short for “Web Log,” it’s an increasingly popular way to self-publish online. You can actually syndicate your articles, making this a great way for experts to showcase their specialized knowledge. Think of a blog as a form of an online journal, with frequent postings and observations on items of interest. Most blogs focus on a narrow subject area, which is ideal for experts. Hyperlinks to articles, websites and other blogs make this a very interactive medium that encourages audience participation. The Pew Internet Study estimates that about 11% of Internet users – translating to 50 million people – are regular blog readers. Technorati, which claims to be the authority on what’s going on in the world of weblogs, tracks almost 42 million blogs. Lawyers are active bloggers. According to an online survey conducted by Blogads.com late last year, 6.1% of bloggers work in the legal profession. The Litigation Section of the American Bar Association discovered that the majority of section members surveyed read at least one blog regularly and almost 20% publish their own blog. The best way to understand a blog is to look at a few. The Google Blog has a very simple appearance. By contrast, some blogs in the legal market can be very sophisticated, like E-Discovery Law offered by Preston Gates & Ellis LLP or the ERISA Blog maintained by The Law Office of B. Janell Grenier. Law Professor Blogs offers a rich network of links to law blogs maintained by legal academics. Three reasons to start a blog 1. Blog software is frequently free or nominally priced 2. Blogs increase your search engine rankings 3. Postings get widespread distribution through syndication If you like to write and have information to share about your area of expertise, a blog can be a great marketing tool. Three cautions before you start blogging Look before you leap into a blog. Launching a professional looking blog requires careful advance planning. Here are some pointers to keep in mind: 1. Create a strategic framework for the type of information you intend to publish 2. Post new content frequently to keep your blog fresh 3. Take advantage of syndication features to maximize the reach of your blog Basically, make sure you have the time to maintain your blog with high quality and timely information. Just because you get named as an expert on a big case is no excuse to neglect or abandon your blog. If you want to know how to blog all you have to do is learn the basics. There are a lot of resources online that you can make use of. There are many articles that give tips on how to make money blogging or even how to start a blog.

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Tip #1 – How and Where Should I Start? You should begin your blog with a free blog hosting service such as Blogger (http://www.blogger.com), or other similar free services such as JournalHome.com, LiveJournal.com or Blog-City.com. The learning curve for using such free services allow you to spend more on developing your content rather than worrying about the advanced areas of scripting, hosting, or programming. Tip #2 – The Things You Should Decide to Write About Although not a required prerequisite for you in order to write a blog, it is highly recommended to try to find a topic to write about based on your level of interest and knowledge. The higher your level of interest, the easier it is for you to get your quality content posted on your blog. Always try to choose an area which you can enthusiastically write about on a daily basis.Try to pay attention to a niche which suites you well. A niche is basically a targeted product, service, or topic. Tip #3 – Always stay on topic. Opinions are generally accepted but the content of the items in the blog should all relate to a general theme. The majority of your readers will be interested in the content that relates to a specific defined theme or loosely defined area of interest. Define a topic and try not to run too far away from it. This will ensure that you create a loyal following of interested readers. Tip #4 – Information is king, be informative. If you are attempting to create the impression that you are knowledgeable about a specific industry or sector, be sure that you stay current on news. Checking your facts before you’re giving out an opinion or a product review is always a good idea, your reputation is at stake. If by any chance you’re utilizing other people’s articles for you blog content, ensure that you follow the terms of usage defined by the author. If you want to have a blog making money all you have to do is learn the basics of blogging to make money. It is rather simple and easy but you have to make sure that you have a passion for writing, otherwise, earn money blogging will not be an option for you.

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1) Consultant Blog: This type of blog is extensively used by a variety of service-based companies including marketers, interior designers, event planners, financial advisors, and so on. In fact, this is the type of blog that I write. The Consultant Blog primarily features a single person writing about their advice and observations. It is a way of highlighting your know-how in an area and building an active readership who trust your opinion to guide them. 2) Tourist Blog: Every Bed and Breakfast can benefit from this type of blog. It features the local area with pictures of surrounding vistas and updates about upcoming events. It can feature links to local weather and favorite places to visit. The Tourist Blog can help sway people to use your business services over that of a competitor, as well as keep in touch with them until they visit your city again. It can also save your business time by providing people the answers to frequent questions. Other businesses that benefit from this style include rafting companies, ski areas, fishing guides, festivals, and so on. 3) Industry Blog: There are a number of companies that specialize in a very narrow area of their industry. For example, many manufacturers are extremely specialized in what their company produces. These companies often sell to other businesses. In this case, it is often helpful to blog about new products lines, materials, trade shows, equipment innovations, industry news, and shipping news. Examples of industries that would benefit from these blogs include fabrication, machining, printing, engineering, insurance, and stamping. 4) Specialty Blog: A lot of businesses, associations, and hobbyists enjoy this type of blog. It focuses on a specific subject. Examples include golf, sailing, stamp collecting, dog breeds, wedding planning, weight loss, and so on. The Specialty Blog can be written by one or multiple contributors. It is a wonderful way to build an online community and encourage comments for the reason that the readers share a common interest. 5) Feature Blog: I first and foremost see this kind of blog being used by people who are in a creative type of business. It incorporates lots of pictures of recent projects and how-to entries. Sometimes there are video posts or audio recordings. It often has links to an online store where a visitor can purchase the project or sign up for an event. A Feature Blog is very useful for artists, designers. Musicians, performers, illustrators, quilters, and writers. One more type of business that could benefit is one that produces custom products such as a furniture maker or a bike builder. If you want to know how to blog all you have to do is learn the basics. There are a lot of resources online that you can make use of. There are many articles that give tips on how to make money blogging or even how to start a blog.

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As an artist, the key to selling more artwork is maximizing its exposure. The internet is an increasingly popular tool for promoting original art, and if done properly, can be quite profitable. One of the most effective (and free!) online marketing tools for artists is the blog. Artist blogs provide an easy way to display your art, discuss your creative process, post exhibition announcements and more. Best of all, blogs require no working knowledge of HTML and the search engines love their dynamic content. What is a blog and how will it sell my art? A “blog” is a web-based diary or journal. The author of a blog, also known as a “Blogger”, publishes content on a regular basis about a focused topic. These regular postings typically provide a “community” feel by allowing site visitors to post feedback to your journal entries. This mode of communication can deepen relationships with potential art buyers, leading to increased sales. Blogs also have the ability to archive all of your previous posts, dynamically creating an individual page for each journal entry. The feature is great for art buyers using search engines to find original art. For example, if you have a blog post describing a painting that you just completed of the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset and an art buyer in Florida goes to Google and searches for “painting of Golden Gate Bridge at sunset”, there is a very good chance that your blog entry will appear pretty high in the rankings. Cha Ching!! Many artists have felt the pain of email marketing losing its effect due to spam filters, junk email overloads and virus paranoia. Blogs provide a new way to communicate with clients, fans and industry professionals. This trend can support your email marketing efforts by allowing blog subscription options for site visitors so that they are notified whenever your blog is updated along with providing a permanent place on the web for all of your postings as opposed to newsletter emails that are typically deleted. If you want to have a blog making money all you have to do is learn the basics of blogging to make money. It is rather simple and easy but you have to make sure that you have a passion for writing, otherwise, earn money blogging will not be an option for you.

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