The blogging bug bit the people a couple of years ago and since then, it has spread like a virus. Blogging as a hobby appeals to people of all generations; everyone, from the age of nine to ninety, seem to be interested in the concept. The reason behind this is that the topics of the blogs are of such diverse nature that it has an inborn element of appeal attached to it.
Nowadays, people blog on just about anything, about their experience, hobbies, interests or their latest culinary endeavors.
And needless stay, most blogs have a dedicated readership base, a fact that is reflected by the huge amount of online traffic each blog enjoys everyday. This unconventional ability to attract readers without putting in too much of an extra effort soon caught the attention of the corporate houses. Once the clever bourgeoisie got wind of this fact, they immediately tapped this sector to advertise themselves. In return they set up a source of income for the bloggers. Truly something quite unheard of!
Why does a blog attract so many netizens? The reason lies in the fact that most blogs are like one's personal diary made public, where every common man reflects on his day-to-day experiences. In the midst of these discussions, there comes forth issues of social relevance, and soon concerned readers pour in to share their views. So it's quite evident that the social networking facility of a blog is the secret behind its being such a brilliant net traffic inducer.
The very concept of blog may not be directly a social networking scheme; in fact the very idea of having a common public forum for discussing things appealing to similar tastes was already present in websites and chat rooms.
Orkut and Facebook came after blogging had already won the faith of almost all netizens. But the revolutionary thing about blogs was that it afforded people to elaborate their views or display their literary skill or any other such fondness and in turn make new friends with people of similar or different passions.
When corporate houses understood the marketing potential of blogs, they immediately set up sites Lifehacker and Kotaku, each of which has its own set of dedicated content writers, who have to ability to amalgamate their creative juices with their bookish (or shall should I say wikish) knowledge and churn out new articles at the flash of a lightning.
Hence, interested readers would log onto that page every half an hour or so to check out what's new. And the fun doesn't stop there. Most readers, after reading these blogs, comment on them as well. Nine out of ten times a healthy conversation ensues which leads to an elaborate process of quoting numerous bloggers and thereby getting to know other people who might thinking about these matters.
Social networking inevitably leads to linking of various blogs together. Once the process of linking starts, the blog sites become virtually a more powerful search engine than Google or Yahoo, since quite effortlessly and without any net traffic hassles, the concerned reader would get to know a lot about the issue.
These opinions are again open to debate; some are a bit biased while others are extremely lame in their logical structure. But since they reflect the various human perspectives of a single issue, blogging ensures that a person develops the ability to appreciate various angles of a single matter.
By being informal in their structure, blogs do cater to a large and dedicated reader base, one that keeps expanding with time.
If you want to go this way, make sure you write your content in such a way that it encourages healthy conversation between bloggers. Soon enough, you'll notice marketing managers hankering after you to attach a small tagline of their product to your blog. In that process you end up earning quite a bit, if and only if you have the flair to weave magic out of words. Happy Blogging!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
How To Create A Popular Online Community
An online community could be a chat room, e-mail discussion list, discussion forum or other technologies that allow groups of people to communicate at yourweb site. When you have a popular online community it will increase your traffic and sales. Below are ten ways to attract people to participate in your online community.
1. Tell your visitors that you post a new, free offer every day, week or month in your online community. The free offers should be attractive to your target audience.
2. Regularly schedule experts or famous guests to participate in your online community. You couldde sign it to be a virtual class or a question/answer session.
3. Post testimonials on your web site from people that have participated in your online community. The testimonials could be about what people have learned or liked while participating in it.
4. Don't allow blatant ads in your online communities. If people decide to visit your online community and see a ton of ads they most likely won't be back.
5. Post all the benefits of participating in your online community on your web site. You could write it like you're writing an ad for a product you're selling.
6. Submit your chat room, e-mail discussion list or discussion board to online community directories. You can find them by typing " the community type" with the word "directory" in any search engine.
7. Create an e-zine just for people who participate in your online community. Allow them to subscribe for free. When they receive each issue, it will remind them to come back and participate in your community.
8. You (the owner of the online community) should participate regularly. Post information that will benefit the other people. This will show them you care abouty our online community members.
9. Have plenty of people to monitor your online community. They could remove postings that turn away people like profanity, spam and other off-subject postings.
10. Your online community should contain user friendly features, like a search option for archived discussions, easy posting or chatting options, emailupdates or digests, etc.
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Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guyhttp://getresponse.com/click.html?x=a62a&lc=XQ5z&mc=f&s=Hi996&y=R&
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Begin creaing your list with an AUTORESPONDER
1. Tell your visitors that you post a new, free offer every day, week or month in your online community. The free offers should be attractive to your target audience.
2. Regularly schedule experts or famous guests to participate in your online community. You couldde sign it to be a virtual class or a question/answer session.
3. Post testimonials on your web site from people that have participated in your online community. The testimonials could be about what people have learned or liked while participating in it.
4. Don't allow blatant ads in your online communities. If people decide to visit your online community and see a ton of ads they most likely won't be back.
5. Post all the benefits of participating in your online community on your web site. You could write it like you're writing an ad for a product you're selling.
6. Submit your chat room, e-mail discussion list or discussion board to online community directories. You can find them by typing " the community type" with the word "directory" in any search engine.
7. Create an e-zine just for people who participate in your online community. Allow them to subscribe for free. When they receive each issue, it will remind them to come back and participate in your community.
8. You (the owner of the online community) should participate regularly. Post information that will benefit the other people. This will show them you care abouty our online community members.
9. Have plenty of people to monitor your online community. They could remove postings that turn away people like profanity, spam and other off-subject postings.
10. Your online community should contain user friendly features, like a search option for archived discussions, easy posting or chatting options, emailupdates or digests, etc.
-------------------------------------------
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guyhttp://getresponse.com/click.html?x=a62a&lc=XQ5z&mc=f&s=Hi996&y=R&
-------------------------------------------
Begin creaing your list with an AUTORESPONDER
Monday, June 8, 2009
How long does it take to get to the top on Google?
Many people who start a website think that it is possible to get high rankings on Google within a few days. Unlikely, this is not possible. Competition on the Internet is fierce and there are several factors that influence how long it takes until Google lists your website.
How old is your website?
If you have a brand new website then you have to wait. You can submit your website to Google but Google will only index your website if other websites link to your site.
In addition, you have to prove that your website is not spammy. Google has several filters for new websites and you have to earn Google's trust before your website can get lasting high rankings. A new website can get good rankings for less competitive keywords but it usually takes about 6 months - yes, six months - to gain the minimum level of trust that is necessary to get high rankings.
How optimized was your website before?
If you have an old and established website that was blocking search engine robots due to a broken robots.txt file or a bad website navigation then it can be relatively easy to show up in search engines.
If you remove the factors that keep search engine robots from your web pages then search engines will list your website relatively quickly. Of course, this doesn't work if you have a new site.
How many inbound links does your website have?
If you have an old website that has very few links then it will take longer to get high rankings on Google. If your website has many inbound links, then Google will pick up the optimized pages on your website much quicker. The more quality links your website has, the quicker your optimized web pages will show up in Google's results.
Which keywords do you target?
This is a very important factor! The more competitive your keyword is, the longer you will have to wait to get high rankings and the more links and optimized pages you need. Start with multiple word keywords that are related to your business and then proceed to the more competitive keywords when your website has good content and inbound links.
Who are your competitors?
If the website that are ranked in the top 10 results for your keyword all have thousands of inbound links and more than thousand pages then it's not likely that your website will be able to get in the top 10 results if it has 10 inbound links and 20 pages. You can either wait for along time until you get top 10 rankings for that keywords or you can just start with other keywords.
How many days, weeks or months does it take exactly?
Provided that your website has good inbound links and optimized web pages, you can get high rankings on Google within a few months if you have a brand new site and choose a very specific keyword that consists of several words. Old and established sites usually need some weeks for such a keyword.
If you target industry keywords, which usually consist of two or more words, brand new sites usually need six months to a year to get high rankings. An established site might get the same result within 3 months.
Highly competitive one word keywords usually require thousands of good inbound links. A brand new website can need several years to get high rankings for such a competitive keyword and even established sites can sometimes need more than a year.
High rankings on Google take some time. You have to optimize your web pages and you have to get good inbound links. Without these two factors, it is not possible to get high rankings on Google.
The number of inbound links is a very important factor. If you have optimized web pages but no links, then you have to build these links and you have to wait longer. If your website has a lot of inbound links then you will get high rankings quickly if you optimize your pages.
How old is your website?
If you have a brand new website then you have to wait. You can submit your website to Google but Google will only index your website if other websites link to your site.
In addition, you have to prove that your website is not spammy. Google has several filters for new websites and you have to earn Google's trust before your website can get lasting high rankings. A new website can get good rankings for less competitive keywords but it usually takes about 6 months - yes, six months - to gain the minimum level of trust that is necessary to get high rankings.
How optimized was your website before?
If you have an old and established website that was blocking search engine robots due to a broken robots.txt file or a bad website navigation then it can be relatively easy to show up in search engines.
If you remove the factors that keep search engine robots from your web pages then search engines will list your website relatively quickly. Of course, this doesn't work if you have a new site.
How many inbound links does your website have?
If you have an old website that has very few links then it will take longer to get high rankings on Google. If your website has many inbound links, then Google will pick up the optimized pages on your website much quicker. The more quality links your website has, the quicker your optimized web pages will show up in Google's results.
Which keywords do you target?
This is a very important factor! The more competitive your keyword is, the longer you will have to wait to get high rankings and the more links and optimized pages you need. Start with multiple word keywords that are related to your business and then proceed to the more competitive keywords when your website has good content and inbound links.
Who are your competitors?
If the website that are ranked in the top 10 results for your keyword all have thousands of inbound links and more than thousand pages then it's not likely that your website will be able to get in the top 10 results if it has 10 inbound links and 20 pages. You can either wait for along time until you get top 10 rankings for that keywords or you can just start with other keywords.
How many days, weeks or months does it take exactly?
Provided that your website has good inbound links and optimized web pages, you can get high rankings on Google within a few months if you have a brand new site and choose a very specific keyword that consists of several words. Old and established sites usually need some weeks for such a keyword.
If you target industry keywords, which usually consist of two or more words, brand new sites usually need six months to a year to get high rankings. An established site might get the same result within 3 months.
Highly competitive one word keywords usually require thousands of good inbound links. A brand new website can need several years to get high rankings for such a competitive keyword and even established sites can sometimes need more than a year.
High rankings on Google take some time. You have to optimize your web pages and you have to get good inbound links. Without these two factors, it is not possible to get high rankings on Google.
The number of inbound links is a very important factor. If you have optimized web pages but no links, then you have to build these links and you have to wait longer. If your website has a lot of inbound links then you will get high rankings quickly if you optimize your pages.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
How To Choose The Best Affiliate Programs To Promote.
There are thousands of affiliate programs out there. Selecting the best affiliate program to promote is not an easy task. If you start promoting wrong affiliate programs, you can waste a lot of time, money and effort. Here are the factors that you need to consider in order to choose those affiliate programs that are right for you:
1. Demand
Is there a demand for this product? To put it simply, do a lot of people want this product? Do you know what type of people would be interested in it? Do you have a clear idea on how you will reach those people and get them to the website?
2. Conversion
Do you think the sales page of the product will convert many visitors into buyers? Does it make the product and the offer look enticing enough? Is the website user-friendly? Is it easy to place an order?
When you look at the sales page, trust your gut. If you don’t feel like you’d be sold on this product if you were a prospect, you are probably right.
3. Commission
Is the commission rate high enough? Digital products (such as e-books) usually offer huge commissions (50% and up). Physical products (the ones that need to be shipped to the customer) usually pay 10% or less. Compare the affiliate program to similar ones in the same industry to see if the commission rate is fair.
In addition to the commission rate, pay attention to the dollar amount that you’ll get per sale. For example, 10% commission on a $100 product is $10, while 50% commission on a $4 product is only $2.
If the product is too cheap, you’ll need to sell a huge number of units in order to make any significant money. It’s often easier to sell several expensive items than lots of cheap ones. Aim for something in the middle – not extremely expensive but not too cheap.
4. Quality
Do you believe in the product? Would you be proud to promote it?
No matter how "hot" and lucrative the product is, if you have any reservations about the product quality, its purpose or its industry, then don't promote it. Protect your online reputation. Doing something that does not sit well with you is destined to be doomed from the start.
5. Tracking
When promoting affiliate programs, keep track of all your efforts. Track the number of visitors you send to each affiliate program and the number of sales that you make. When you accumulate enough data to compare, dump those programs that are not profitable and focus all your efforts on the ones that make you money.
Want to learn more? - "#1 Marketing School"
1. Demand
Is there a demand for this product? To put it simply, do a lot of people want this product? Do you know what type of people would be interested in it? Do you have a clear idea on how you will reach those people and get them to the website?
2. Conversion
Do you think the sales page of the product will convert many visitors into buyers? Does it make the product and the offer look enticing enough? Is the website user-friendly? Is it easy to place an order?
When you look at the sales page, trust your gut. If you don’t feel like you’d be sold on this product if you were a prospect, you are probably right.
3. Commission
Is the commission rate high enough? Digital products (such as e-books) usually offer huge commissions (50% and up). Physical products (the ones that need to be shipped to the customer) usually pay 10% or less. Compare the affiliate program to similar ones in the same industry to see if the commission rate is fair.
In addition to the commission rate, pay attention to the dollar amount that you’ll get per sale. For example, 10% commission on a $100 product is $10, while 50% commission on a $4 product is only $2.
If the product is too cheap, you’ll need to sell a huge number of units in order to make any significant money. It’s often easier to sell several expensive items than lots of cheap ones. Aim for something in the middle – not extremely expensive but not too cheap.
4. Quality
Do you believe in the product? Would you be proud to promote it?
No matter how "hot" and lucrative the product is, if you have any reservations about the product quality, its purpose or its industry, then don't promote it. Protect your online reputation. Doing something that does not sit well with you is destined to be doomed from the start.
5. Tracking
When promoting affiliate programs, keep track of all your efforts. Track the number of visitors you send to each affiliate program and the number of sales that you make. When you accumulate enough data to compare, dump those programs that are not profitable and focus all your efforts on the ones that make you money.
Want to learn more? - "#1 Marketing School"
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