Archive for Blogging For Small Business
Top 3 Reasons Your Blog Is Not Making You Money
Posted by: | CommentsBlogging as a business can be a very profitable venture. Every business should have one but for many, the results are less than spectacular. Did you know that you may actually be sabotaging your own efforts to turn a profit from your blog? Here are three mistakes that many bloggers make with their blogs.
- Trying too hard to sell something….anything! An over abundance of advertising on a blog will actually have a reverse effect on your sales. We have all seen the blogs that have almost every available space taken up by affiliate ads and pay per click ads.
This has a negative impact for several reasons.
- Too many banners and graphic ads will seriously slow down the page load time. This will result in your visitors leaving before you page ever completely loads.
- When there are too many advertisements there is no main focus and the site is too busy nothing will catch your visitor’s eye. All of the ads just become one big distraction.
To be more effective, keep the ads to a minimum. They will be much more effective and more likely to get clicked on. Place one relevant ad in a prominent position on the page and the visitor will be more focused on it.
-
- Trying to do too much with one post. Every blog post should have one topic or one message. Trying to cram too much information into one post is not a good thing. Make your information concise and to the point. Don’t pad it with fluff. A blog post should be somewhere between 250-600 words at the most. If you find the post is getting longer than that, divide it into multiple posts. Blogs are intended to be short, informative bits of news or information, not novels. Your visitors will not stick around to read a blog post that is pages and pages long.
-
- No clear call to action. This is probably the most likely reason your blog is not giving you the results you desire. If you want someone to do something, you must tell them what it is. If you want someone to click on an affiliate link…tell them to. (with the exception of Adsense, you can’t ask them to click) If you want them to opt into your mailing list; ask. If you want them to share your post with others: ask. Your visitors must have a very clear message and a prompt from you to do what you want.
So there you have it. The top 3 reasons why your blog is not making you money, generating leads or getting traffic to your site. Make those few changes and you will start to see some real results.
Now, true to my word, here is my call to action for you; if you have found this article helpful, please share it on your Twitter or FaceBook account.
Using Google To Keep Your Fingers On The Pulse Of Your Market
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the hardest parts of running a small business blog can be keeping it updated with fresh new content that is current and newsworthy. The more topical you can make your content, the more avidly your readers will follow you. But there isn’t enough hours in the day to browse through every news publication and trade publication on a daily basis for any mention of news in your market niche.
How do the top bloggers do it?
There are two things you must keep in mind.
- Many of the super-blogs have staff that do the blogging for them. They outsource their blogging because they don’t have time to do it themselves. a good blog will have daily posts and if you run a small business you do not always have time.
- They do all of their blogging in batches and schedule posts. If you know you are only going to have one day per week to work on blogging, then do a batch at a time and schedule it to post periodically. Use the built in drip feeder that comes with WordPress and other blogging platforms.
- Use the tools available to you from Google and RSS feeds to bring the news to you instead of having to chase after it.
RSS feeds will keep you informed about what other websites are posting. You should be subscribed to your competitors’ RSS feeds. If someone is sitting in the coveted number one spot in the search engines, and that is your goal, then you should be informed of what they are doing and when. That will give you valuable information you can use to maneuver your website ahead of theirs. Chances are they are on top because they provide good content. You should be writing about the same topics.
One very valuable tool that Google provides to keep you up-to-date on all of the latest news happening in your niches is called Google Alerts. What makes this even better than RSS feeds is that it is keyword driven. All you have to do is set up an alert for your main keyword and Google will email you once per day (or however often you have specified) anytime something is posted online that Google picks up as being related to that specific keyword.
Why is this so useful?
- It is current and fresh. Google doesn’t sent you old news. It only sends you what has been posted within the past 24 hours at most. You could spend hours surfing through article directories and search engines for content only to find out it was posted 2 years ago. With Google alerts it is newsworthy now.
- Google already recognizes this content as targeted to your keyword so it is very relevant to getting your site ranked for your chosen keyword.
- Google is literally handing you sites that are relevant to your keyword that you might get a link on. Many of these alerts come from other blogs. So pop in to that blog and leave a comment with your website linked to your name. It doesn’t get any easier than this to find good related blogs.
How do you use what is delivered to you through Google Alerts to your advantage? Easy, just write a little keyword rich editorial giving your opinion on what the other person has blogged about using quotes from their post. It is a good idea to provide a link back to them as you do not want to plagiarize and should always give credit where credit is due. Just make sure you give enough of a review or opinion on the matter to make it your own and not just a copy of their post.
Then when you go back to their blog to leave a comment, you can tell them you gave a review on your website and leave a link. They will most likely be thrilled at the recognition and will approve your comment which will give you a link back to your site.
By using Google Alerts, you are keeping your finger on the pulse of your niche to be informed on what is keeping it ticking. This is how you build a following by being a super-blogger and recognized authority within your niche market.
Using Your Business Website to Educate Your Potential Clients – A Win-Win Situation
Posted by: | CommentsBefore making a purchase, most people will want to do a little research on the product they want. They’ll not only research prices and product reviews, but they’ll also educate themselves on the industry in order to make sure that they’re getting a quality product that won’t become obsolete as soon as it’s in their hands. This is an excellent opportunity for you, as a business owner, to educate these potential clients on things to look for when they’re buying a product like yours. Using your business website to educate your potential clients will not only provide support to potential customers, but will support your business as well.
Some people may look at a tutorial or primer on a business website with a little suspicion. They may think that your motives are simply to make your business look good when you should be providing valuable information about the product. But if you’re honest in using your business website to educate your potential clients, and you provide them with a well-rounded look at the product in question, you could gain their trust and help them to make an informed decision about the type of product they really need to suit their needs. They’ll be grateful for your help in the end, which makes you look like a hero.
Using your business website to educate your potential clients can also show them that you know what you’re talking about. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to show potential customers that you’re an expert in your field and that you will be able to provide any help they need not only in choosing a product but in using it after they purchase it. If you provide them with interesting and important information, then you could earn their trust and increase your reputation as a business committed to integrity and quality.
It may take some hard work on your part to maintain the educational blog portion of your website, but using your business website to educate your potential clients is an important marketing tool. It will not only help your potential customers, which could make them feel like they owe it to you to give you their business, it will also show them that you know what you’re talking about, which will make them feel like it’s safe for them to give you their business. As long as it ends with them wanting to give you their business, it’s a win-win situation.
Blogging For Small Business – What Does It Take To Have A Successful Blog?
Posted by: | CommentsFor some reason, many small businesses miss the mark when it comes to creating a successful small business blog. Blogging is one aspect of marketing your business that is both simple and powerful. It is one of the tools you can use to boost your business website well ahead of your competitors.
So many times I have consulted with companies who have a blog but are not using it properly. When analyzing a client’s website, I will see a blog and think “Good stuff! They are blogging” but when I visit the blog I find the last post was August 2009 and maybe one or two posts every few months prior. That is a shame because using this very powerful marketing tool effectively can bring floods of buying customers to your website and gain you instant credibility and authority status within your market.
I have even seen blogs where there was one single post about the business service and asking visitors to leave a comment on their products. A blog is not a feedback form. Yes, you can ask for feedback and interact with your visitors, but that is not the purpose of the platform.
So, what does it take to create a successful small business blog?
- Commitment. You must decide if you will include this in your marketing strategy and then you must be committed to making it pay. It takes time and effort but the return on investment is huge.
- Originality. In the internet marketing industry we have a saying that “content is king”. You must be prepared to provide original content for your blog on a regular basis. If you want visitors to keep coming back, and to see you as an expert in your field, you must demonstrate that by providing a good amount of useful information and news about your niche.
- Consistency. This is the one that most small business owners struggle with but it is crucial to success. You must make regular and frequent posts. Once per month or once per year just will not cut it. A minimum of 2-3 posts per week is necessary. One per day is the optimum.
- Social bookmarking. Since each blog post is effectively a new page to your website, you can promote it as such. Every page and post of your blog is a new URL for you to send out to the internet world as a link. This is very powerful stuff.
- Syndicate. Getting your blog posts re-published and redistributed is easy through the use of plugins and built in features of most blogging software. This gives each page of content the ability to go viral. You can reach much further afield than just the scope of your website if you do this properly.
So there you have just 5 ways to make your business website stand head and shoulders above your competition. The good thing is that you can opt to do this by yourself or to enlist the help of an internet marketing service who specialises in SEO and blog maintenance. Either way, your business will profit from the results of a successful small business blog.
Incoming search terms for the article:
Great Ways to Promote Your Business Blog – Start at the Beginning
Posted by: | CommentsBlogging is increasing in popularity as a way to advertise or market your business. Since a blog is more casual than a newsletter might be, and typically updated more frequently, many people prefer reading blogs to getting newsletters. But once you’ve decided to start a business blog, the question is no longer about how to promote your business, but about how to promote your blog and encourage people to read it. There are many great ways to promote your business blog, and many of them are free. With a few tips, you’re sure to grow your readership (and interest in your business) in no time.
People like reading blogs because they’re informative, and can provide critical information on industry news that regular readers find interesting. If you want people to frequent your blog, then be sure to update regularly with breaking news and crucial industry news. This could get you a reputation for always having the latest industry news, which makes it more likely that people will come back for more. And get friendly on the blogosphere. Find other sites similar to yours and build a relationship with the writers through comments and links. You can get information from them, and people may click the link to your blog if you leave interesting comments. This is one of many great ways to promote your business blog.
Another one of the great ways to promote your business blog is to utilize social media. You can post your latest blog on your Facebook feeds and Twitter about your latest post. Everyone who can view your feeds will be able to see your posts, and they will serve as a constant reminder to people on the internet that your blog exists and is worth reading. And as others read it and appreciate it, you can encourage them to post links to your blog to their social media accounts as well.
And never forget the importance of friends and family. You can send everyone you know links to your blog and encourage them to forward information about your blog to everyone they know. Those who love you are your biggest fans, and will serve as a great advertising tool for you. There are many great ways to promote your business blog, and while you could certainly pay for things like search engine marketing and pay per click advertising, you’ll find that promoting your business blog begins with the tools you already have at your disposal.