Blog Marketing Tips
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June 27, 2008
- Why the Visual Appearance of Your Blog is More Important Than Ever
I've just received an email from James Maduke about a new Visual Search Engine, Search Me, and I felt it was absolutely necessary to tell you about it … it might make you think twice about putting up some ugly template blog with splog content thinking that "if you build it, they will come …"I'm going to give you the link to watch the video he created at the end of this post so ensure you read it to the end.
You see, the Internet is on the change … again, and this time it isn't about algorithms or keywords, it's about the way people search the Internet for information …
Welcome Visual Search Engines
Now, rather than just bringing up text each time you search for information online, "Search Me" will actually show up text, images and video in their search results.
Now, this may not seem that important, but according to Person Education Inc, 65% of the population are visual learners meaning that they are more comfortable with either being shown or seeing pictures to help them learn and for you the blogger or website author, it means that 65% of the population when given a choice, will "check you out" (or your site :-)), based on looks.
- How Do I Start Blogging?
If you're new to blogging and you're anything like I was when I was a beginner, you have an idea about what a blog is and why have one, but you don't know how to get started.
Your research gives you too many options … use Blogger.com or a WordPress.com to set up a free blog hosting account, use MySpace or one of the other social networking sites to set up your blog or, create your own blog using your own hosting account and domain name.
I've created several blog posts on those options and, I've created a quickstart guide to help you start blogging today and, you can download your free copy here.
In terms of which platform to use, I personally advise against using free hosted solutions such as blogger.com or WordPress.com if you are building a business blog because there is nothing like "owning your blog." Do something that violates the terms and services of these hosted sites, and they'll delete your blog leaving you with no chance of reinstatement … all your effort and hard work gone.
May 22, 2008
- Video Blogging Quick Tips
With all talk about video marketing and blogging, it really does make sense to start video blogging today. It really has never been easier to add video to a blog and, it's a great way to connect with your audience, providing them with interesting information in half the time it would normally take them to read it.
However, before you go ahead and make a video blog, there are a few tips I'd like to offer that will allow you to create a good video that individuals actually want to watch … one that will keep your blog interesting and informative:
Tip #1: Try to keep your video blog entries short and punchy. In most cases you will want to make your video last 4-5 minutes although, if you feel that you have much more to say than in this short time span, you can either create a longer video or, create a sequel to your first blog.
And, it really does depend on the content. If you're creating your blog for entertainment factor then 3 minutes in my view is long enough. If you're educating then you want to be able to give more meat and in this case, longer videos are justifiable.
April 28, 2008
- The Dangers of Using Contributing Authors on Your Blog
Using contributing authors on your blog is a sure way of easing the burden from you in terms of the time it takes to research, write and post your blog but, there are a few major pitfalls that you'll want to avoid so that you still control your blog and not your contributors.
What actually prompted me to write this post was the fact that I'd received an email from Feedblitz this morning showing that I'd updated my blog and so I was a little shocked knowing that I did nothing on it over the weekend.
After I calmed down and realised that no one had hacked into my site, I was semi okay with the posts but on closer inspection, I saw red!
Here's what happened …
I submitted my blog to a service that allowed people to automatically post unique content to my blog on a regular basis. And, since it wasn't compulsory to keep my blog in the system, I gave it a try. First off, I didn't even get confirmation that my blog had been accepted into the system which is why I thought I'd been hacked when I received an email from Feedblitz indicating that I'd updated my blog.
February 1, 2008
- Make It Easy For People To Comment On Your Blog!
I have just been to a site that was hosted on Blogger.com and I wrote out my comment, ready to hit the submit button and it said "This blog does not allow anonymous comments." And what was even worse, was that I had to have a blogger account in order to submit my comment.
Do you think I bothered to comment? No!
And, I'm not sure what Blogger.com is like now, but in times past, if you signed up and didn't use the account for a while, your account would be deleted.
No doubt, there have been other people who have gone to leave a comment and did what I did today … hit the back button!
"So what about spam comments, Trish" I hear you ask.
There are two things you can do to reduce spam comments showing up in your blog posts:
- Use the Akismet plugin
- If you're using WordPress (which I do recommend … and I mean WordPress hosted on your own domain), go to "Presentation" -> "Discussion" and select "An administrator must always approve the comment."
January 21, 2008
- Blog Vs. Website?
Blog vs. a website … which one should I have?
This is a recurring question I get asked again and again and, it really is a valid question … one I asked before setting up my own blogs.
First of all, I need to make this ultra clear … a blog IS a website. In fact, I want to take that a stage further and say that blogs are "dynamic" websites. You can have pages on a blog and, with some of the great blog software on the market today, it can sometimes be difficult to tell some blogs and websites apart.
For those of you who may not know what a blog is, it’s short for web log, and is a frequently updated website consisting of blog posts, or entries (more often than not, dated entries) that are arranged in reverse chronological order. So when a reader comes to your blog, they see your most recent article or post first.
The advantage of a blog is that blogs allows you to post written text, audio and video and have it online within minutes, unlike traditional static websites which can take hours to update and cost you each time - unless you’re familiar with building or editing web sites.
November 18, 2007
- Why You Need Regular Blog Posts
I know my clients must be fed up of hearing this, but I thought that if people understood just a little about how blogs work, it would encourage them to write more regular blog posts.
I took the view that if I just tell my daugther that she is not to do something or that she should do something, the response is often negative. If I explain to her why it's in her best interest to do or not to do something, her response is always higher.
So, this is just a quick tip, but I hope you gain some value from it …
This is what happens when you blog:
Once you publish your blog, a 'ping' message is sent to the blog update services telling them that your site has been updated. Search engines like Google as well as RSS specific services like, Technorati, and Feedster periodically asks the Update Services - sometimes referred to as Aggregation Ping Servers - to let them know which sites have been updated. The search engine spiders can then visit your blog to find out if there is any relevant content and if there is, they will index your site.
October 11, 2007
- I Want To Build You A WordPress Blog … For FREE!
I've updated this blog post, but you can still get a WordPress blog for FREE and you're going to be getting a better deal!
You see, I've listened to you … Many of my readers asked me about the price of my upcoming coaching program but when I told you the price, most of you felt it was fair but felt you were all "spent out" having purchased so many home study courses with nothing to show for it - for some of you years later.
So I went back to the drawing board and whilst my coaching program will still go ahead in the future, I wanted to help you get started on the Net quickly. But you know you don't get something for nothing right? I gotta feed my family and, I want to spend more time with them … but if you're serious about marketing online, not only should you read this blog post carefull, you must take action. So don't say you havent been warned …
September 18, 2007
- WordPress Semiologic Pro Theme Tip #5
Here is tip #5 of using the WordPress Semiologic Pro theme and, this one will appeal to those bloggers who favor using Google AdSense as a way to monetize their WordPress blogs.
In my view, Ad Spaces is one of the most powerful Virtual Real Estate ad placement blogging plugins around and if like me, you are one of those people who got tired of trying to make AdSense Deluxe work on your site, then this is definately for you …
Ad Spaces enables you to place ads within your blog post or page but even better, it enables you to easily place ads within the canvas of the blog software. By canvas, I mean within the header, footer, in the sidebar, below the entries, above the entries, below each title and even above the canvas.
I admit that I didn't use the Ad Spaces feature of Semiologic in the early days of using it, because I just didn't understand it. However, after my frustrations with the AdSense Deluxe plugin, Denis de Bernardy, the developer of Semiologic walked me through the process of using the plugin, step-by-step and then I wondered how I lived without it.
August 17, 2007
- WordPress Semiologic Pro Theme Tip #3
Here is tip #3 of using the Semiologic Pro WYSIWYG editor …
Make use of the integrated spell checker.
This one is more for your new readers rather than regular readers of your blog because in truth, unless you really do have a lot of typo's, most people will forgive you and learn from the content.
However, correct spelling and grammar in my view has less to do with whether you're credible or intelligent but more to do with you getting your message across to your target audience effectively. If your blog posts are filled with typo's, people will get distracted from your message possibly resulting in you losing the sale, a subscriber or even a joint venture partner.
It's so tempting sometimes just to ignore the spelling and click "publish," but just remember another 30 seconds of your time could add another few hundred or a few thousand dollars to your bank account.
I don't know of any other WordPress blog theme that can boast it's very own integrated spell checker, but if you do choose the pro version of Semiologic, ensure you take advantage of this feature and give yourself a pay rise.
July 16, 2007
- Childs Play Blogging - Yep, This Kids Doing It!
I know that kids tend to be more versatile than adults when it comes to technology, but I wanted to introduce you to my youngest blogger, Bilaal Rajan.
Bilaal Rajan is now 10 years old, but he started raising funds to help children less privileged than him when he was just 4 years old.He's UNICF's youngest Ambassador worldwide and in 2004, he personally raised $50,000 for UNICEF's as part of his Canada Kids Earthquake Challenge to encourage Canadian Children to raise money to help children affected by the Tsunami disaster.
Bilaal speaks worldwide, not just about his mission trips, but he encourages children to maximize their true potential and his blog at www.bilaalrajan.com will cover his charity work, Hands For Help as well as the success workshops he'll be running for children.
So, you think you can't do it? Blog that is? Well, you can make it as easy or as hard as you would like but I haven't even had a chance to coach Bilaal on how to use the blog software yet, and he's off with a running start! Want to know the reason why…?
June 11, 2007
- Why Create A Business Blog With WordPress?
Why should you use WordPress to create your business blog anyway?
Now, I'm sure you've read somewhere on the Internet or heard someone say that you can set up a WordPress blog and start blogging in 15-minutes or less and, that would be true. But, that only gives you half a picture since this will only give you the default WordPress blog, which is fine but you must bear in mind that NOT all WordPress blogs are created equal! More on this later.
But first of all… what is a blog and why should you have one?
A blog derives its name from web log, which can be updated instantly, easily and usually frequently. A blog is like an online journal, although it's a lot more than this. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.”
Why should you have a blog if you're a small business ower, author, information marketer or indpendent professional? You can…
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Sack your web designer for a start!
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Build your reputation quickly and easily
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Get more traffic to your existing websites via your blog if you have them
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May 24, 2007
- Write Better Blog Posts
One of the questions I'm frequently asked is "how do I write a blog post so it gets noticed?"
The first thing to consider is that when you are writing your blog posts, you have to please both the search engine spiders as well as your human visitors, but there are ways of creating great blog posts so you please both.
The second thing to consider is that no matter how beautifully your blog posts are written - they could sound like prose from Shakespeare - if they are devoid of keywords, you'll find it harder to get free search engine traffic. Google for example thrives on keyword focused content that is relevant to the reader, but without stuffing your posts with keywords that make it look and sound artificial.
Google now uses something called Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) to match phrases on a page or post to determine it's relevancy and with over 600,000 phrases used to compare against your blog posts, I would say the days of keyword stuffing are truly over.
May 15, 2007
- Creating An Audio Blog
Just how easy is it to add audio to your blog?
Audio blogs and video blogs are a big deal this year and you can either create them the hard and expensive way, or go the easy and economical route. I don't know about you, but I prefer methods that work and they're not always the most expensive, complicated ways of doing something.
If you're using WordPress then adding audio to your blog is easy although it can seem complicated if you don't know what you're doing. This is the reason I created this short video to show you how to add audio to your blog.
This certainly isn't the only way of adding audio, but it's free and it works!
http://trishjones.com/audio/blog_audio/adding_audio.html
The video does assume that you already know how to download a zipped file and upload it to your server, changing the permissions if necessary. If you don't know how to do this, then ask your webmaster who should be able to do this for just a few dollars.
April 25, 2007
- Want To Write A Book? Part 1
Tap into one of the most economical ways of writing and promoting your book?
When it comes to writing, publishing or marketing a book, I know that many authors struggle, particularly if they stick to the conventional route of handwriting or typing up the book and then physically promoting their book at booksellers such as Barnes and Noble.
Well, I'm going to tell you how you can break with convention!
I'm going to give you my two penny's worth here and then tomorrow, I'm going to send you information about another unconventional way of getting your book out of your head and onto paper? Is that okay with you?
Now, I know you're first question is going to be … "Trish are you a published author?" And that's a fair question. And the answer is that I will become a contributing author on the 1st June to a Christian Women's book series Refined by Fire, which is a snippet of my life story, but the full rendition of the story is being written right now and will be out in a matter of months.
March 28, 2007
- My First Blogging Workshop
It was small scale, but a big success …
Yep, I finally took the plunge and held my very first blogging workshop last Saturday.
Not only did the attendees walk away with a blog built and ready to go, they now understand the advantages of a blog over a "normal" web site, how blogs work as well as how to make money from their blog.
I asked them to time me as I Installed a WordPress blog including the time to log in, and it took 5 minutes and 10 seconds! Ask yourself where else you could get a website created in such a short space of time and for less than it would cost you to purchase a pizza!
As a trainer, I can understand how "genuine" trainers feel when people attend their workshops and then don't implement what they are taught. It makes you feel as though you've failed and one of my aims of this workshop was to ensure that not only did people "get it" in terms of why they needed to blog, but I wasn't going to give them any excuse for not getting their blog online because as I was once told, "procrastination is the thief of time!"
March 15, 2007
- Is SEO Relevant to Your Blog?
And how much SEO do you need to know?
A blog is differenent to a conventional website in many ways, but the truth is how you market them is no different.
But there is a difference in how they are found by the search engines …
This is what happens when you blog:
- Once a Blogger publishes his blog, a 'ping' message is sent to the 'Aggregation Ping Server,' telling them that the blogger's site has been updated.
- Search engines like Google as well as RSS specific services like, Technorati, and Feedster periodically asks the Aggregation Ping Server to let them know which sites have been updated.
- Since the Blog sends pings when the site is updated and has an RSS file as well as being updated frequently, a blogs search engine rank is usually higher than a conventional website. I say usually because a stagnent blog is no differnt to a static web site in terms of being found and indexed by the search engines.
Compare this to a conventional website:
March 10, 2007
- Let The Rich Jerk Help You Make Money With Your Blog!
Using AdSense to monetize your blog? Let the Rich Jerk give you a helping hand…
In case you don't know who The Rich Jerk is, he's a foul mouthed, but very successful Internet Marketer who's probably loving the fact that yet another person is commenting on the fact that he is so "distasteful." Online anyway. He is apparently a very nice guy in the flesh. Still…
I received a link to a video created by an insider at The Rich Jerk corporation, giving insider secrets about The Rich Jerk's AdWords account.
Within 2 minutes I clicked the back button after he indicated "The Rich Jerk has no idea I'm doing this." I mean, give me a break! How many times have we heard that line before! He sounded just like a broken record!
Anyway, I received two more emails with the link to this video, both of them coming from two people I respected on the Internet, the last one being Joel Comm of AdSense-Secrets.com who was honest and said he had no idea if they were selling anything, but the video was worth a watch. So I lightened up and swallowed hard in the first few minutes of the video as I had to listen to this guy say again "RJ doesn't know I'm doing this, and to be honest, he probably won't be too happy." I'll say no more…
March 5, 2007
- Have You Upgraded To WordPress 2.1.2 Yet?
The strange thing that happned since I upgraded to WordPress 2.1.1
I'm sure you get spam blogs like everyone else does and even though I downloaded the "did you pass math" pluggin recommended by Mike Filsaime a few weeks ago, the spam on my WordPress blog sites seems to have skyrocketed!
Anyway, what I generally find is that the spam blogs usually target one or two particular posts - usually older ones - and I eventually sign into the WordPress back office of my blog and deselect "Allow Comments," which just puts a stop to anyone commenting on that particular blog post.
But a strange thing happended today… even though I deselected the "Allow Comments" option, I still kept getting spam on the same blog post… and there were 7 or 8 of them at any one time from the usual pharmacy spam sites. And to be truthful, I was getting a little nervous because I had no idea how they could keep adding comments when I had disallowed commenting.
March 3, 2007
- Stay At Home Moms… I Want To Hear From You!
Whether you are a stay-at-home-mom on the net or you don't yet have an Internet business, this is for you…
In the UK, women represent the majority of entrepreneurs starting a new business. They may not make headlines as the latest overnight millionaire successes, but they earn a comfortable living and find satisfaction in their work and for the stay-at-home-mom, they get to spend more time with their families and less time toiling behind a corporate desk.
But I think it's fair to say that many stay-at-home-moms (SAHM) are put off starting their own online business because they think it's too technical, it takes a lot of hard work and time and maybe, they think they don't have the right support infrastructure.
To be fair, this is how it was for me starting on the Internet in 2002. It really was a case of "get your business going first and then focus on the Internet."
So, guess what I tried to do…? You got it, I thought this was the way to do business, but my heart kept pulling me back to what I was passionate about and now I've made my dream reality. But the truth is …
