Ted Prodromou
www.netbizexpert.com
What is a blog? According to Wikipedia:
* A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
* Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.
Popular blogging tools
* www.blogger.com
* www.typepad.com
* www.wordpress.org – Wordpress community and support
* www.wordpress.com – hosted Wordpress blogs
* Many others
Blogger.com
* Free, hosted blogs
* Owned by Google
* Easy to use
* Gets a lot of exposure because all blog addresses end in .blogspot.com
* The downside is that you can’t have your own URL, it must end in .blogspot.com
Typepad
* Very popular
* Very easy to use
* Hosted blog – multi-tiered pricing
* You can create unlimited blogs that all map to your domain name i.e. www.netbizexpert.com/blog1, www.netbizexpert.com/blog2, etc
Wordpress
* Very popular
* Very easy to use
* Hosted or self-hosted
* Lots of free plugins
* Search engine friendly
Must have Wordpress plugins
* Google Analytics
* Google Sitemap
* Simple Tags
* Feedburner
* Tagalizer
* What Would Seth Godin Do
Where to get plugins
* http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/
* Search Google for “Wordpress plugins”
* www.semiologic.com – great commercial package that includes an assortment of SEO-related plugins
* www.autosocialposter.com – great plugin that automatically submits your post to multiple social bookmarking sites
Super Feeds
* Register your new blog at:
o www.feedburner.com
o www.blogpulse.com
o www.blogcatalog.com
o www.mybloglog.com
o www.blogrush.com
Create Social Networking Accounts
* Sign up at:
www.digg.com
Del.icio.us
www.reddit.com
www.propeller.com
www.newsvine.com
www.shoutwire.com
www.slashdot.com
www.technorati.com
www.stumbleupon.com
www.spurl.com
www.wists.com
www.simpy.com
www.blinklist.com
www.furl.com
www.fark.com
www.shadows.com
Ma.gnolia.com
Submit Your Posts
Once you create your post go to:
* www.onlywire.com or
* www.socialmarker.com
and submit your post so it gets distributed to multiple social bookmarking sites automatically
How To Get More Traffic
* Find popular blogs in your niche and make comments on them
* Join communities and participate in the conversation
* Place ads on popular blogs
* Provide valuable content on a consistent basis
o www.doshdosh.com built a list of 10,000 RSS subscribers in one year without advertising or any promotion
o He just posted great content on a regular basis and it grew by word of mouth
Finding Good Blogs
* Search Google for your keywords plus the following
o Search for “management consultant blog”
o Search for “management consultant trackback”
o Search for “management consultant typepad”
o Search for “management consultant wordpress”
How To Find Good Blogs
* Set up a Watchlist in the Blogger Central section of www.technorati.com Blogger Central is a great resource in itself showing you the hottest tags and blogs containing those tags.
* Use blogsearch.google.com to find blogs in your niche. Blogsearch is a search engine just for blogs.
* Check out www.blogcatalog.com It’s a comprehensive blog directory where you can promote your blog, find niche blogs, join BlogCatalog Groups, or join in on Blog Discussions. Add the BlogCatalog widget to your blog.
* Sign up at www.mybloglog.com. Join some communities in your niche and add the MyBlogLog Widget to your blog.
* Go to www.blogger.com and watch Blogs of Note and also search for blogs in your niche
* Download a free copy of Comment Sniper at www.commentsniper.com. You can search blogs using keyword phrases and you get a comprehensive list including Page Rank and Alexa ranking.
Commenting on Blogs
* Don’t just say “Great post” or “I agree”
* Read the blog post and comments and continue the conversation with a compelling or controversial comment
* Grab their attention but don’t be a jerk
* Make them want to click on your name to learn more about you
Commenting On Blogs
* Don’t promote your products or services in your comments
o Just continue the conversation and add lots of value to the conversation
* Add your URL to the comment form but not in the body of the comment
* You can add URL’s that lead the reader to a solution to the problem being discussed
What Is A Good Blog To Comment On?
* Read the posts on the blog and decide if you want to be associated with the author
* How many people are commenting?
* What is the quality of the comments?
* Can you add value to the conversation?
* Would you want these people as your customer?
What Is A Good Blog To Comment On?
* How much traffic does the blog get? Check the traffic ranking at www.alexa.com
* What is the Google Page Rank of the blog? Download the Google Toolbar to check it.
* You can download an add-on for Firefox called Search Status that will display the Alexa ranking and Page Rank at the bottom of your browser.
What Happens Next?
* When you add value to the conversation people notice you and click on our name to learn more about you
* When they click on your name it will redirect them to your blog or website
* Try to direct them to a web page or blog post that is in alignment with the conversation. Don’t just send them to your home page which has no content related to the conversation.
Great resource sites
* www.fridaytrafficreport.com
* www.stompernet.com
* www.buildabetterblog.com
* www.constantconversation.com
* www.authorityblackbook.com
* www.netbizexpert.com (of course!)
Homework
* Register with the social bookmarking sites
* Set up a blog even if it’s at blogger.com
* Start making 3-4 posts per week so your blog gets out there
* Visit www.netbizexpert.com/resources frequently for updates
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