As someone pointed out in a recent poll, the internet is about connecting with people. And if you're trying to make money online then blogging is 1 of the best ways to start connecting with lots of people.
So what is a blog and what is the meaning of blogging?
A blog is simply a web log and a web log is like an online journal. Blogging is the activity of writing entries in your blog.
So who blogs and what do they blog about?
Hundreds of thousands of people blog and they blog about just about everything. Just go to Yahoo, Google or your favorite search engine and type in your favorite topic along with the word blog. Chances are you'll find quite a few blogs about that subject.
Now if you're trying to start an online business or get traffic to your existing online business, blogging is a great tool because blogging can be free and it's easy to start a blog.
The 2 biggest free places to host a free blog are Wordpress and Blogger. Both not only host your blog for no cost but they also provide wizards so you can easily set up your blog in a few minutes.
Now you're probably asking, "Can anyone make money from a free blog hosted on either of these site?"
The short answer is - yes. I give this answer speaking from my own experience since I've been making sales from some entries on 1 of my free blogs hosted at Blogger. And the best part of this is - I posted those entries last year and have been making a few sales every month since!
Now the sad thing is that while blogging can be free and easy many online entrepreneurs don't do. And the biggest reasons many don't blog are:
- They worry that the blog won't be perfect.
Hey, there's no such thing as a perfect blog. If you're not blogging because you don't know how to create your own perfect template or use the perfect widget then you're just procrastinating. Forget about all the fancy stuff, keep your blog simple and just get started. - They don't think they have the time to blog.
True, blogging at least once a day is a good idea however it's not mandatory. The fact is, the more frequent you blog the faster you'll be discovered however, even if you only blog once or twice a month you'll eventually be found. When I stated how I was making some monthly income from some blog posts I neglected to say that these entries are on a blog where I rarely write a new entry. So while having fresh content posted frequently is a good way to have your blog discovered by the search engines, using the right key words and keyword density are also extremely important. - They are afraid people won't agree with what they have to say.
Worrying that someone may not agree with you is an irrational fear because it will eventually happen and there's nothing you can do about it. Sure, you could block all comments but that stops the community interaction and hurts the blog. Or, you could delete the comment like it was spam however this can hurt your credibility with the person making the comment and anyone else who saw it before you deleted it.
The best course of action for negative comments is to maintain your professionalism and post a kind and insightful reply. By doing this you show your readers you care and helps build a better relationship with them.
In addition to building a better relationship, a negative comment may actually help you get traffic to your blog. An example of how a negative comment actually drove traffic to a blog was given in the second audio of "How Can I Get Visitors to My Website: Traffic Generation Techniques Explained." And while I won't go into the details of what happened I will pass on this bit of information:
When someone likes something they tell 3 people about it and when someone doesn't like something they tell 20.
This doesn't mean go post things everyone will hate. It does mean that a little controversy once in awhile can be a good thing. - They think they can't make money with a free blog.
While a free blog is not as powerful a marketing tool as a blog on your own hosted site, you can make money with a free blog. I've done it and so have a lot of others! And while where your blog is hosted is important, what's on your blog is more important.
Will you make money or start driving traffic to your web site the day you set up your blog? Probably not. But as you learn more about blogging, write more entries and improve your blogging technique and style you may start seeing some sales and traffic.
Blogging is a powerful way to communicate with your targeted niche market. Blogs are easy to create, can be changed easily and allow 2-way interaction between you and those in your target community. And while not everyone who tries blogging has a successful blog, if you don't try then you never will.
To Your Success,
Susan
P.S. Today's tip contains some of the information in the blogging discussion from "How Can I Get Visitors to My Website: Traffic Generation Techniques Explained."
Feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts about this tip.
Tags: blog, blogging, reasons not to blog, marketing, blog marketing
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