How to Use Your Blog to Build Your Email List

Filed Under (Blog Lessons, Website Promotion) by Jon Hook on 18-08-2008

Every blog marketer knows the importance of having a list.  It can’t be stressed enough.  The bigger the list, the more business potential you have at your fingertips.  It is essential that you know how to use your blog to build your email list exponentially to keep that potential alive and flourishing.  So how do you do that?

The most obvious and basic thing you can do to encourage sign ups is to provide genuinely helpful and unique content.  If you do nothing else, practise this essential consistently to ensure return readers and interested opt-ins.

If you are providing a blog that people are considering valuable, they will be easily encouraged to share and forward your newsletter to others.  Naturally, your newsletter should have an opt-in box for the recipients to easily register with.  This step presents the opportunity to double your list of email addresses.  Think about that – double, with very little effort.  All you’re doing is asking your readers to share.  If they’re enjoying your writing, they’ll be happy to oblige.

Should you find that you’re not getting as many referrals as you’d hoped from doing the above, try a little motivation.

    Offer an incentive to those who help you increase your number of registrants.  It doesn’t have to be costly, though you could offer cash payable through PayPal.  People are often pleased to receive a free report about a subject they’re interested in that pertains to your business.
    If you really want to thrill and excite them into helping you, offer to write a blog post about them.  Every person who brings you X number of new sign ups will have their business highlighted on your blog.
    You may already be offering a free report on your blog site to entice new sign ups.  If so, don’t forget to explain that the email address being entered will be added to your list.  People don’t like feeling that they’ve been tricked onto a list.  Honesty may lose you an address or two, but will win you an integrity that will take you much farther.
    Along the same vein, give your readers a feeling of being in control by segmenting your lists according to subject matter.  Readers can then sign up only for the topics they’re interested in.
    Why not try something that survey sites use?   Offer a contest ballot each time a reader gets a referral to join your list.  The prize could be anything mentioned above, or something else your loyal supporters deem worth winning.

Another benefit to the personal touch is that your readers will feel part of a fold that has the inside track to success.  It creates a team atmosphere that will in turn create motivation to help build your list.  When this happens, you have people on board that feel rewarded and really want to help.  The more interested and involved your opt-ins are, the better your list and therefore the selling potential within it.

Tons of people are using their blogs to implement subscriptions, as well as increase their numbers and keep everyone happy that they signed up in the first place.  Have fun with the process and enjoy the interactions with your faithful readers, and the subsequent increase in sales.

Once you learn how to use your blog to build your email list, you’ll wish you’d started using the strategy sooner.  It’s easy, and only involves a little work.  The return you’ll get on the time spent will be more than worth it.

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5 Effective Ways To Increase Reader’s Loyalty On Your Blog

Filed Under (Blog Lessons, Content, Make Money With Your Blog) by Jon Hook on 14-08-2008

Seems like almost everyone has a blog these days.  A lot of profitable niches have developed, and it’s no secret that blogging is big business.  With so much competition in nearly every area, you have to pay attention and be proactive to ensure that you get your share of the market.  Do you know how to increase reader loyalty on your blog?  Can you develop a site that puts you ahead of the rest and gives people a reason to return?

Make Reading Your blog A Habit They Can’t Shake

It may seem obvious, but the most important thing that you can do to endear yourself to your readers is to give them a steady supply of great, original content.  That means plenty of entertainment and value packed into an easy to read format. Don’t forget to make your words positive.  Negativity turns people off and readers away.  If you can perfect all that, you’ll turn the blog reader into a junkie for your words.  They won’t be able to resist coming back for more.

Feed The Habit

Once you get those repeat returns, don’t ignore them!  Use your brilliant copy to encourage comments, and be sure that you respond.  Answer any questions posed, and make a remark or two about notes left.  Don’t forget to thank anyone who takes the time and trouble to leave a few words.  Make sure your loyal followers know that you appreciate them, and they’ll respond in kind.

Get Them Addicted

Another way to give your readers warm, fuzzies about you and your blog is to link to them.  Allow hyperlinking of their name, have a sidebar list of recent visitors with the hyperlinked name, or if appropriate, occasionally incorporate a reader’s link into your copy, making sure that you do it in such a way that it makes sense, of course.  Your popularity will skyrocket with readers who will feel like they’re part of your ‘club’.    You’ll have spotlighted them and made them feel important.  That’s like gluing a person to your blog.

Seal A Bonus Deal

If you want to go one step further, then surprise your loyal readers by visiting their blogs or sites and leaving comments.  You may even want to invite some of the more talented folks to submit a guest post.  You’ll be building relationships that will last a long time, assuming you continue good care.

Get The Word Out

It probably goes without saying, but make it easy for people to sign up for email alerts.  You’ve gone to all the trouble of making a really good blog and taking good care of those who read it, so now encourage them to leave their names and email addresses in a simple and easy to find form.  Let them know that their life will be made simpler by taking a second to go to the trouble.  Every time you post a new entry, they will receive a notification in their inbox, complete with handy link back to your blog.  Initially, if it’s a new blog, you may only get a few, but if you’re providing a really good, useful read, the numbers will continue to grow and grow.

Not all people are into using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds yet, but it’s a good idea to make the option available for those who aren’t shy to use it and for those who dislike signing up for emails.  You may still get some of the traffic with the feed button that would otherwise be missed.  As it is automatic and time saving, there will be some for whom this quick method will be perfect.

So, now you know how to increase reader loyalty on your blog.  If you follow the suggestions in this article, you will have a dedicated group of readers who will support you for a long time to come.
Happy blogging!

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Google AdSense – An Insight Into What Wonders It Can Do For You

Filed Under (Blog Lessons, Make Money With Your Blog) by Jon Hook on 11-08-2008

Anyone who bought Google’s shares a few years back must be really happy now with the returns. But most of these investors know Google only as a search engine and nothing else. There’s no denial to the fact that Google started off as a search engine but the guys at Google were smart enough to realize the true potential of internet and branched out the company into several other businesses.One of these subsidiaries of Google is called AdSense. Most of you must have heard of it but are not sure of what it is and how it helps people make a lot of money online. We’ll tell you here all that you need to know about Google AdSense and how you too can benefit from it.

In layman’s terms Google AdSense is a marketing company. But you must rise above that level if you really want it to also work for you. It is not just any other ordinary marketing company. It is an online marketing company and its marketing techniques are to say the least very innovative. It is an advertising company that is paid only if people see the advertisements and click on it.

Google AdSense ads are one of the most convenient and hassle free ways of advertising on your website. You just have to sign up with Google AdSense, accept their terms and then just sit back and do your part of the bargain, that is blogging and posting relevant content on your blog. After Google places ads on your blog and the visitors click on it Google will pay you fee based on Pay Per Click basis.

So what’s in it for Google? Well, Google does not pay you the entire advertising fee to you but only a smaller percentage of what it gets. So Google also makes a good amount of money in all this exercise.

Now you must be thinking that why should you share the advertising revenue with Google when you are doing all the hard work of attracting visitors to your blogs? Well, that is because Google has a brand name which you perhaps don’t have right now. Apart from that Google being a huge organization has more credibility amongst the advertisers than an individual or a small company. So there’s nothing to fret about if you have to share the revenue generated out of advertising with Google AdSense. If you want to see what I am saying try and persuade 4 companies to advertise on your website and pay you on per click basis.

The form which you have to fill in for subscribing to Google AdSense will ask for some of your information like bank account number, Social Security number, Tax account number, address etc. Feel free to give it them because your information will be encrypted and stored only to be retrieved in case of a legal issue.

Google AdSense also pays the subscribers for referrals. Referrals basically mean that you will get paid an amount of money if you refer someone else to become a subscriber of Google AdSense. Also if you place Google’s toolbar on your blog and somebody downloads it, then also you get a commission for that based on every download.

While a lot of people have made a lot of money with Google AdSense, there are many others who just can’t stop complaining that it is just another fraud. The crux of the matter is that you have to be smart and write content that is search engine friendly while being informative or interesting to the reader at the same time if you really want Google AdSense to work for you.

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Different Ways Of Making Money Through Blogging

Filed Under (Blog Lessons) by Jon Hook on 31-07-2008

Internet offers more than just one way of making money these days. You don’t have to particularly be a manufacturer to sell something online. You just have to be really inclined towards marketing a product or a thought or a belief and have good knowledge about it. And that’s it. So what are all these ways of making money on internet? Well, the most popular and the most practiced way is affiliate marketing. We’ll tell you a little bit about it and the many other ways that you can use to make money on internet. There are many people who retired from their professional lives early to get out of the rat race and became full time consultants to the biggest companies just because of their blogs.

The most important thing when you want to make money from blogging is content. Quality content comes from knowledge. So whatever you want to blog about, make sure that you everything about it, make sure that you share as much as you can with the visitors so that those who visit your blog find value. Apart from that you must also keep updating the content regularly because no one likes stale content.

You must be wondering that this guy is just talking all about blogging and nothing about making money. Wait that is next, I am not being rude but you have to learn the alphabets before writing words on paper. The next step after you have started your blog and found a topic you want to talk about and share with people is advertising. Sign up with Google Adsense or any other similar service which places ads on your website and shares the money earned through advertising with you.

So every time somebody visits your blog or webpage and clicks on the advertisements placed by Google AdSense, you get a small amount. So if you get 5 cents for every click and hundred visitors click on the ad, you make a cool $5. And to keep these people coming back again and again and thereby bringing in more money you need to keep the content updated and relevant.

That was all about making money online by blogging and getting paid on Pay Per Click (ppc) basis. We will now talk about what are the other ways that you can make money online.

There are many people who have quit their well paying jobs to help and support certain causes like improving the condition of people in Africa or Asia; you can ask people to donate funds for that cause while letting them know that it will also cover a part of your expenses. If you are really doing something good, be assured that donors would be there sooner than later.

If you have a passion for drawing, you can put up some nice eCards or paintings on your blog or website and then request people to pay if they like your work which is free to download anyways. You can also start a blog through which you share audios or videos with people in downloadable format and ask them to make a donation if they like what you are doing.

There are many people who also offer advice regarding self help and people who find it helpful in improving their personal life give back to the blogger a gift in cash to show their gratitude. There are even such property consultants who offer free of cost advice.

We all have something that we can offer to people and if it’s good, there’s definitely a lot of money to be made.

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Get The Most Out Of Your Blog

Filed Under (Blog Lessons, Content) by Jon Hook on 25-07-2008

Blogging is the day’s buzzword and you really need to get on the blogging train if you want to make some cool cash in a small time. Are you interested in finding out how you can make the most out of your blog? Keep reading then.

A blog is basically a space where you can write and post whatever you like. You can pick up a social issue like the condition of people in Africa or environmental issues like global warming. You can also share some recipes with people or just write about your personal life or some experiences. A blog is a place with literally thousands of possibilities. You just have to take a step ahead and create your own possibility.

If you are really passionate about something then your first hurdle towards effective blogging has been eliminated. Now all that you have to do is to register yourself on any of the blogging websites like wordpress etc., find a name that is available and relevant to your topic of discussion and start writing about it.

But what you write must be quality matter and not gibberish; it should attract the reader, give him or her some valuable insights into the topic being discussed and make them come back to you for again with even more visitors. Easier said than done, wouldn’t you say? Well, I totally agree but then this is how it is done. There are a certain things that you can do here and there to make this task a bit easier and get better results and return for the time that you have invested.

The first step is that your blog’s name should reflect the topic that you are blogging about. So if you are discussing about paintings, then don’t name it ‘Paula’s blog’ or ‘Scott’s blog’ etc. keep the name relevant like ‘paintingsworld’ or ‘paintingbazaar’ etc. These names will give an interested reader the first glimpse into what your blog is about.

The second thing that you must do is to pen down a few points. These should be about what all topics that you’ll discuss about paintings and what all you will avoid touching on. Once you have done that it is time to start writing a few articles. Write something about yourself, a little bio of sorts. Write about your experience in the field etc. Now once you have a short intro of yourself and a few articles ready, it is time to start posting articles. Post two or three articles everyday for a few days.

Now if you have a few people reading your material and posting comments it is time to sign up with Google AdSense. They will then place ads on your blog and every time a visitor clicks on these ads you get paid a commission. These commissions are then paid out on a weekly or a monthly basis.

Also you must ensure that the content that you have uploaded is Search Engine Optimized (SEO). You can always take the help of a professional in this regard so that your blog gets a higher ranking in the Google search engine. Also, when you setup your blog on Wordpress, you get a major advantage which is not available  on most of the other blogging sites.

At Wordpress you have the option of uploading or rather to say saving many articles at a time while publishing just a few every day. This way you don’t have to login and post new content every day. It also keeps the content on your blog from becoming stale thus keeping your visitor base loyal. It also helps in saving time because you have to write all the articles just at once and then they’ll automatically keep getting posted.

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Tags in Blogging

Filed Under (Blog Lessons) by Jon Hook on 12-06-2008

What is a Tag?

A tag is a keyword or a descriptive term associated with an item as a means of classification.

Tags are typically used in a dynamic, flexible and automatically generated internet related environment and do not follow any specific defined classification scheme.

Illustration

Let’s try to understand the concept of tags with an example. For instance, a blog server which supports tagging might have the tags Broadway, Tickets, Phil Colner and Premiers.

A reader will be able to tell the purpose of the page quickly by scanning the list of tags. The server would list the tags in a list on that page, with each tag being displayed as a web link. This link would lead to an index page listing all web pages which use that tag. This process, in turn allows a reader to quickly locate all pages which are associated with the term Broadway.

In case the server supports tag searching, a reader would be able to find all pages that use a specific set of tags, such as Broadway and Premiers. To further reclassify the page, all that will be required is to change the list of tags and all the connections will be automatically tracked and updated by the software.

Forms of Tagging

There are two types of tagging patterns for blogs. The form of tagging you decide to implement in your blog depends on your blog and its goals.

However, it should be noted that whatever form you opt for, do it carefully, because once implemented, to change the form of tags later involves a lot of complicated exercise.

Here we discuss the two main types of tagging for blogs to facilitate your decision-making:

  • Internal Tagging - This form of tagging capitalizes on the content on the

site and provides internal linking which is basically good for both, search

engines and your readers.

Internal tagging fundamentally uses the flow of conversation approach. The approach highlights that the flow of conversation is not only linear, but is also multi-topical and interspersed with other aspects of conversation.

  • External tagging: External tagging is implemented by outside services like Technorati, Flickr or del.icio.us and gives the process an edge of external exposure. Bloggers who use this form of tagging do so because they already have categories for internal use and meanwhile tagging allows them to feed the subjects to such external tagging services.

External tagging facilitates a lot of broad exposure on individual entries but carries the risk of being unable to tie similar conversations together internally.

How to Implement Tags?

Most of the blog platforms do not support out-of-the-box tagging services. However, most of them provide support for plugins or extensions. Here we list a few examples:

  • Ultimate Tag Warrior (WordPress) – This plugin provides a wide set of options for internal and external tagging both. This service allows the blogger to display tags in a lot of ways and is thoroughly documented. External tags have the provision to get linked to Technorati, Flickr, del.icio.us, Wikipedia and the like.

  • Jerome’s Keywords (WordPress) – This plugin is the easiest to reverse mid-way as it implements tags as keywords.

  • Simple Tags, (WordPress) - This particular plugin carries the basic Technorati tagging capability on a per-post basis. However, it does not carry the internal tagging functionality.

  • TechnoratiTags (Moveable Type) – Similar in nature to the above two, this plugin feeds keywords to technorati as tags.

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