Tag Archives: Wordpress

Online Visibility: 11 Ways to get More Exposure for Your Blog in 2011

Posted on by
1

Bloggers might sometimes get the feeling that they are fighting an uphill battle because theirs is just one of millions of other blogs out there competing for the attention of their prospective audience. But if you develop a solid marketing plan for your blog and take consistent action toward the goals you set daily, weekly and monthly, before you know it, your Alexa rankings will be falling and your Google page rank will begin to rise which means you’ll be attracting more visitors.

Let’s dive right in to 11 tips for getting your blog seen more in 2011:

1. Post consistently

Having a consistent posting schedule gets both your readers and the search engines used to visiting your blog more often.

2. Know the basics of SEO and how to optimize your blog and your posts for the search engines.

If you are running a WordPress blog there are several free plugins that will help you to maximize your blog’s SEO from both a structural and a content perspective. Optimizing your blog helps you get more traffic and better search engine rankings.

3. Comment on other blogs in your topic

Visiting other blogs in your niche or topic, reading the posts and leaving relevant comments is an effective way to increase your visibility with both the blog’s author and your fellow commentators.

4. Guest post on popular blogs in your topic

Guest blogging gigs are a great way to create a win-win with other bloggers in your niche. You help them out by providing content that is suited to their blog and audience, your presence on their blog helps get you exposure with a whole new audience, and the readers get to experience a new perspective.

5. Send out press releases

Whenever you are planning a news-worthy event, send out a press release. Not only might you attract media attention, but you’ll get a ton of high page rank back links to your blog and a nice, if short-lived, flow of traffic to your blog.

6. Host a contest/giveaway

Who doesn’t want something for free? Host a contest or a giveaway where you offer up a valuable product or service in exchange for your readers helping to spread the word about your blog.

7. Join or host a blogging challenge

A blogging challenge can have many benefits including increased exposure for the host and the participants, you get motivated and inspired to blog more to keep up with your fellow challengers and you get a little traffic boost and more comments as other members of the challenge make the rounds to the various blogs.

8. Offer a free product

If you are building your opt-in email subscriber list, offer a free product for visitors to your blog who sign up. Invite subscribers to share your premium with their friends and make sure that it contains a link back to your blog.

9. Be active in social media

Work your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles to send traffic back and forth. Use a Facebook Fan Page to share valuable tips and info with your audience, host events and invite your followers and be a trusted resource that people want to follow.

10. Video marketing

Video marketing is an incredibly powerful way to gain some valuable exposure online. Create a series of videos containing useful how-to tips, recipes, instructions, or advice. Include a link back to your blog in the description box and a compelling call to action in the video. Share your videos on all of the top video sharing sites for lots of traffic and visibility.

11. Article marketing

This tried and true strategy is still effective today, but you’ve got to be committed to creating a high volume of quality articles with links back to your blog. Write articles for some of the top websites in your industry to establish yourself as an expert and draw attention to your blog.

As you focus on increasing your online visibility remember those qualities that make you unique and set you apart. There really is no competition because you are one of a kind. The goal then is to get yourself out there in the marketplace of ideas so that you can shine your brilliance for the world to see. Being modest and shy will not serve you, so if you don’t have the gumption to get out there and share what sets you apart then you may as well fold up your tent and go home.

If you have a vision and a mission to accomplish, then it is your responsibility to share the message that you have been given with a world that is waiting to hear what you have to say. Make 2011 your year to break through. Those who succeed are those who never give up working towards their goals.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

How to Fearlessly Create Free Products to Give Away, Generate Leads and Build a Responsive Email List

Posted on by
2

Photo credit: Jay Lopez

When visitors land on your website you’ve got mere seconds to grab their attention and get them to stick around to see what you’ve got to offer. Most people will not buy what you have to offer on their first visit to your site, but if they like what they see, you want to seize the opportunity to open up a dialogue with them so that they can get more comfortable with you and learn what you have to offer before they click that “Buy it Now” button.

So, your goal should be to get your visitors to sign up for your email list so that you can continue the conversation with them. In order to entice and encourage your visitors to give up their contact information, you’ve got to answer the “What’s in it for me?” question for them. What do you have of value to offer them that will give them that will whet their appetite for the products and services that you can provide?

This is basic content marketing at work. Content marketing seeks to woo prospects encouraging them to become customers who continue to come back for more because you have both demonstrated the value of what you have to offer them, and you have made the effort to develop a relationship with them.

The key to successful content marketing is to consistently deliver valuable and relevant content that meets your prospective customers needs. It is not thinly-veiled marketing materials–otherwise called spam. Rather through the content that you offer you are establishing your expertise and authority in your subject matter and industry. Through your relationship building efforts you are creating an environment of trust that could lead to higher customer loyalty.

It is easier than you think to create your own free product to give away to your website visitors, and in today’s post we are going to take a look at some creative ways you can quickly and easliy come up with a product to give away to generate leads and build a responsive email list.

Here are some ideas for giveaway products:

  • eBooks
  • A video series
  • An audio series
  • An email e-course

For each of these products you will begin with an outline. You can create a mindmap to brainstorm for ideas and then arrange them in outline order.

If you are going to create an ebook, chunk it down to a series of short articles strung together with an introduction, a table of contents, logical transitions and a conclusion that summarizes the materials and presents the next steps that you want your reader to take. A give away ebook does not need to be more than five to eight pages long. You will deliver on the promise made in the title of the book, but remind them that if they want the complete picture they should visit your website for more in-depth information.

If you don’t like to write, or if you think you’re not a good writer, you can record what you want to say in your ebook and then have it transcribed. Sign up for a free conference call service that records calls. Dial in and create your recording, and then find a transcriptionist through any of the online freelancing websites such as Odesk.com, or Elance.com. There is an online transcription service called, speechpad.com where you can call a phone number, speak your message into the phone and then the audio is transcribed and sent to you in an email.

For a video series you can use the outline that you created to write scripts or storyboards if you are making slide-show videos. Having a plan in advance makes gathering the information and shooting the videos take less time and effort.

With audios, your outline will help you to stay on topic when you are recording your messages. If you want to get fancy, add a bit of bumper music at the intro (fading in) and out-tro  (fading out). Be sure to include a short blurb at the end of your audio inviting the listener to visit your website.

An e-course can be easily put together from a series of ‘how-to’ articles. Load the messages into your email auto-responder service and then stagger delivery of the messages every few days. At the end of each message, point your readers back to your website.

Once you’ve got your product created, you can either hire a graphic designer to create an e-cover for your product, or you can make one yourself quite easily and inexpensively here: http://bit.ly/ecovermaker.

The final step is to upload your product to your website and create a link to the download page. Grab the opt-in code from your auto-responder program and if you have a WordPress blog you can add a new text widget to your blog’s side bar, and paste the opt-in code along with your e-cover image into the widget and then click ‘save’ and then ‘close.’

You should add a bit of descriptive copy above the opt-in box that tells the visitor what they will get when they subscribe to your email list. Better yet, create a short intro video that describes what they will be receiving.

Remember, this is not a marketing piece. You are offering them something of value in exchange for their subscribing to your email list. At the end you can include a call to action that directs them to your website to find more information and resources about your products and services.

If you’d really like to have a custom made lead generation product that you can upload to your website or blog to showcase your content and build your contact list, but you just don’t have the time to create one yourself, contact me and I will create one for you.

Have you created an awesome free product to give away to visitors to generate leads? Please leave a comment with a link to your site so that we can take a look.

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

Blogging Tips: 7 Strategies for Keeping Up with Posting Consistently

Posted on by
8

Blogging is a personal publishing format that allows you to be able to have your own platform for sharing your ideas with the world. Reading feedback from visitors is quite rewarding and makes it worth all of the work and effort that goes into producing a quality blog.

But sometimes there are those days that your Mamma warned you about. There are days when life gets to be overwhelming, you’re exhausted and beaten down and the baby needs a new pair of shoes.  Sometimes you wonder what the heck you were thinking when you started that blog. What made you think you’d have time to post every day or least every week?

Well, gentle reader, I’ve got some fabulous news for you. I find myself in the same boat as you. I’m a blogger, a mom, and I’m running a business from home. My days are full to the brim, so if I am not strategic with my time, my blogs can slip off the radar and languish for days while I’m scrambling around after my girls, or knee-deep in a client project.

Since we all face the challenge of how to fit our blogging tasks into an already gloriously full day, I’ve come up with some tricks and strategies that you can use to develop productive habits, which will allow you to make the most of those little snippets of time in your day to get your blogging done.

I’ve heard it said that we teach what we most need to learn, and that is indeed the case with me because one of my biggest challenges has been keeping fresh posts on my blog. So, here are some tips and for writing and blog posting that I try to follow:

1. Keep a notebook handy

Here’s a perfect example of this tip. As I write this, I am sitting in the laundry room doing laundry. Because right now I live in an apartment that does not have a washer and dryer, I have to schlep my clothes to the local laundry. But, while I sit here waiting for the wash cycle to finish, I’m getting this blog post written because I brought my little mini-Netbook with me.

Get a small notebook, use the notes feature on your phone, or like me, keep your mini-laptop handy and jot down ideas as they come to you.

2. Stay in ‘Idea seeking’ mode

Keep your eyes and ears open for what is going on around you. How can you incorporate the events of your life into your blog posts? Just this week I got my first complaint on my email subscriber list. It threw me for a minute, but I got back on track quickly and turned it into a blog post.

Are you facing a challenge in your life? Find a way to share what you are learning without sharing too many of the personal, gory details. When there are big stories in the news either in your local area or nationally find a way to weave larger story into your blog posts if it’s appropriate.

Use your notebook and capture those ideas. You may not use all of them right away, but at some point you’ll be stumped for something to write about, and you can consult your notebook for some new ideas to write about.

3. Schedule specific blogging tasks

As a blogger you’ve got to do the following tasks over the course of a week:

  • Write blog posts
  • Share blog posts

-social media marketing

-blog directories/communities

  • Research
  • Blog maintenance

- install, update plugins

-stats reports

-comment moderation

-database backups

  • Network/build community with other bloggers

I’m certain that there are more tasks, but this is all that came to my mind. All of these things need to be done in order for your blog to run smoothly, so plug each of the tasks into your calendar and designate how many minutes you will set aside to complete it.

4. Write titles and outline posts in batches

In your research time, come up with some working titles of blog posts that you plan to write over the course of the coming week. Now, when you sit down to write, you will not be facing the dreaded blank page or screen. If you don’t have a hot topic to write about at the moment, look at your batch of working titles and start from there.

5. Write posts in batches

Take your list of titles and post outlines and write up a few posts in advance. Set them aside and come back and edit, proofread and format them in batches and, if you are running WordPress, you can publish them all at once scheduling the exact days and times you want each one to go live.

6. Utilize guest bloggers

Do you ever need a break from blogging, say for a vacation? Wouldn’t it be cool if someone else would write a blog post for you every now and then? Well, in exchange for a link back to their blog, guest bloggers will write a unique blog post for your blog. Is there a particular fan of your blog who always writes thoughtful, cogent comments, and who has a blog on a related topic to yours? You might send them a quick email and see if they might be interested in a guest blogging gig.

There are also several forums where bloggers seeking guest bloggers, and bloggers seeking blogs to guest post with hang out and help each other out. Here are two that I use:

http://BloggerLinkUp.com/

http://myblogguest.com/

7. Find ways to make it fun

Do you remember why you started blogging in the first place? Try to stay in touch with that initial excitement and use that energy to make your blogging tasks something you get to do rather than so much drudgery. Challenge yourself to a solid week of daily posting. Join a 30 day blogging challenge or start your own. Set specific goals for how often you will publish posts, and then create little rewards for yourself when you meet those goals. You know what motivates you, so use that to your advantage.

I’m in the 31DBBB challenge right now, and one of our tasks for the challenge is to find a blogging buddy. Develop a collaborative relationship with another blogger and challenge, encourage and support each other to make your blogs the best that they can be.

I recommend being patient with yourself as you develop these new habits. See which ones work for you and go with those for awhile and see if your blogging productivity improves. Number seven is the most important here because if you view your blogging responsibilities as chores or another “must do” task it will feel like drudgery.

When you come to view blogging as something fun and exciting that you get to do, you will be more likely to put all of your positive energy and enthusiasm into the task. Your passion for your topic will be apparent to your visitors and attract more visitors to your blog.

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

5 Tips For Becoming a Freelance Blogger

Posted on by
Reply

Freelance blogging involves writing blog posts for other bloggers. You will be helping other bloggers keep their blogs supplied with fresh, well-written content while doing work you enjoy for decent pay. Adding freelance blogging to your portfolio can be an effective way to keep a more steady flow of work coming your way while adding more variety to your work life.

Freelance writers enjoy an enviable lifestyle that affords them the ability to work where and when they choose,  and for clients that they choose doing work that they enjoy. One of the downsides is that there tends to be a bit of a ‘feast or famine’ cycle of being swamped with work, and then sometimes, work is difficult to find. Adding more skills to your service offerings gives you more opportunities to serve a more diverse client base.

Aside from a love and passion for the craft of writing, you’ll also need a solid foundation in Internet marketing, effective website design and some knowledge of basic SEO practices to become a freelance blogger.  Knowledge of how to manage the popular blogging platform, WordPress, is also important. Your clients may want you to write the posts and then publish them to the blog as well.

Because basically anyone who can write a sentence, and who has Internet access can slap up a blog, you’ll have to differentiate yourself from the teeming masses by providing excellent, well-written content that’s beyond what the average person would be able to find upon doing a cursory online search.

Here are five tips for getting started with freelance blogging:

1. Start your own blog.
Your first step is going to be to demonstrate that you can create some results with your content. Create a blog on a topic that you are passionate about and work towards getting it ranked high in the search engines for your keywords. Cultivate an audience and engage with them on your blog. Demonstrate best practices and show potential clients that you know how to build and maintain an effective blog.

2. Create a page for your blogging services
Decide on what price you will charge per word, giving a price for a range of word counts from 350-400, 500-600, and 1,000 word posts. Although blog posts tend to be more effective when they are shorter and to the point.

Post your resume and a way for potential clients to request references.

Provide sample blog posts and consider sharing traffic data for particular posts.

Include testimonials that describe the results your blog posts have helped other blogs achieve.

3. Create relationships with potential clients by guest posting.
You can begin by offering to guest post for bloggers that you’d eventually like to write for. If they like your work they may consider hiring you in the future.

4. Comment regularly on blogs that you’d like to work with.
Leave thoughtful comments that add value rather than trying to show how nifty and smart you are. Join in the conversation and keep coming back to blogs that you like so that you can establish a reputation and credibility.

5. Utilize social media to gain exposure.
Use your Facebook profile, create a fan page for your blog and use the Networked Blogs app to connect your blog with the millions of other blogs on Facebook. Use Twitter to get traffic by tweeting when you publish a post. You
can also tweet about your topic and what’s happening with you.

If your blog is on a more serious business topic you’ll want to create a LinkedIn profile, add lots of relevant connections, and join participate in and start groups on your topic.

Visit the following forums to find blogging gigs:

  • forum.freelanceswitch.com
  • forum.freelancevenue.com
  • jobs.problogger.net
  • bloggerjobs.biz

You can also find blogging gigs on the regular freelancing sites such as oDesk, Elance and Guru.com.

If you’re an online freelance writer looking to expand your reach, freelance blogging can be a fun way to branch out , attract more clients and increase your bottom line.

Resources:

http://www.bloggingteacher.com/how-to-become-a-freelance-blogger

Enhanced by Zemanta