Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts

Should Bloggers Use Widgets On Their Blog?

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There are a lot of widgets that you can add to your blog to make it more attractive,something that can be useful for your readers,something that can provide extra information and something that can be used to interact with your readers.Most of this widgets are free and some of it are really useful,like the visitors counter.

What exactly are widgets?It is a small bit of code,usually in JavaScript that can be paste into your blog template.It serves fresh content from other servers.

Should you add widgets to your blog?

It all depends on what type of widget you want to add.If it can be useful to both you and your readers,it is recommended to add it.There are a few widgets that you can add to your blog because it is useful not just for you but also for your readers.
  • Visitors counters.Not only it can track the numbers of visitors to your blog,some even provide stats about those readers.
  • AdSense,eBay,Amazon - Well AdSense so you can make some extra cash when it get clicked,your readers can find further info related to your blog from it.eBay and Amazon widgets listed the latest product from their store,it is best when you are an affiliate to either or both programs.
  • Blog roll,headlines,top blogs,news break - You can share with your readers which blog you like,the blogs you subscribe,latest news headlines.
  • Blog directories and communities - It is for reciprocal links and also to inform your readers which blogging community you join,maybe they are from the same community and this will help them network with you.
  • Chat box - Not my favourite but I see more and more bloggers are adding it to their blog,it is a way to communicate with your readers.
Before you add all sorts of widgets on your blog,do remember this,
  • Performance - Some widgets will slow down your load time,especially flash widgets,it may look nice,but not all people browsing the Internet have fast connection.If it takes too long for your page too load,they will just leave.Add widgets that will not effect your site loading time.
  • Usefulness - Too many widgets will make your blog page look crowded,readers want to see and read your content.Add widgets that you find are really useful for you and also your readers.
  • Only what you need - Add widgets that you need like AdSense,visitors counter.Don't add widgets just because you see other bloggers are using it or just because it look nice.
What really matters is actually your content,some widgets are only for first impression.When your blog look nice with lots of graphic on it,people will want to look more but if they find your content is nothing to shout about,that will be the first and last time they visit your blog.

 

Not Getting Traffic To Your Blogs?

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This is one of the most biggest concern among bloggers.You start a blog,write a post,but there are no people reading it.You can find topics about traffic in any forums you join.There are ways that we can do to promote our blogs like submitting it to blog directories,joining blogging community,use social networking sites to promote it to other members,join forums,comment on other blogs and a lot of different ways that we can think of just to get people to our blogs.But still,even if they do come,that is the only time they came.

Maybe we are getting the wrong kind of traffic?Maybe there is something wrong with our blogs?Lets see,do we forget about this 3 major ingredient which can help our blog,not in getting sudden rush of traffic,but a more targeted traffic,that will eventually become our loyal readers.What are the 3 ingredients?
  • Content - Well,blogs are about content and content as they say are king.Would people come to your blog again if you don't have anything that can interest them?They want to read something,gain new information,learn new things,being told stories they never heard of before,knowing things they never come across ever in their life,seeing new products that they never thought exist.If people want to see ads,they can find it without effort,its everywhere.But unique,fresh quality content are hard to find and once they found it,they will keep coming for more.Some will say it is difficult to come out with good content,if other people can do it,why can't you?Read other blogs within or outside your niche,look at how they write their content,why theirs have a lot of people subscribing to it.If they can do it,so can you.
  • Promoting - Some bloggers will go all out to create one killer content,submit it to Digg,Reddit or Stumbleupon and get a blast of traffic,but it won't last long.They will leave as fast as they came,just to see what the fuss is about,but if you constantly,regularly update your blog with good quality content,mixing well all the SEO things into each and every post,you will see the increase in your traffic,it will take time,but this are targeted traffic,people who come to your blog because they know you have something that they want,because they do a search about your blog keywords.
  • Tracking - I believe this is one thing that most bloggers,especially new ones are still unfamiliar with.The most simple tools to use are Google Analytic.You will know how many visitors you have,where they came from,how they get to your blog,if through search from which keywords,which article get the most view,what is your bounce rate,the higher your bounce rate means they only open your first page and leave.With all this stats available to you,you can use it to further enhance your blog.You know what kind of articles the readers like,you know which keywords normally bring people to your blog.Giving what people want will help increase traffic to your blog.
Now that we know the 3 important ingredients,it is time to put it into practice and hopefully we will see an increase to our traffic in not a very long time.After we achieve this,is there anything else to do?There sure is,don't be easily satisfied.We can always optimized our effort.If we can create good content,optimize our knowledge to make a better or even great content.If we manage to get good amount of traffic through SEO,optimize it by making it better or do other things that can help add more traffic.Join conference,network with other bloggers,create a group among bloggers in your niche.

As I've said a number of times before,blogging is a learning process.If we are willing to learn and put to practice what we have learnt,learning from mistakes we made,we always have a better and bigger chance of being a successful blogger.

 

Social Network - The Real Deal.

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I've read Daniel Scocco recent posting on his blog,DailyBlogTips about social network and how he compares it to the fashion industry.I pretty much agree with Daniel because it does have some similarity.

The fashion industry is all about glamour.About creating new trends,creating the "In thing",being cool,being seen in the right place,with the right people wearing the right trendy outfit.It is about creating new looks,competition among fashion designer and designer house,sometimes creating ridiculous fashion.It is about creating something so people will want it,not because they need it.Just so they can be cool,and people will look at them as some kind of fashion icon.

Social Network are also about being cool,being in the right social networking,the latest site where most people on the Internet spend their time,where popular bloggers and popular people in the industry hang out.When new social network site emerge,they will abandon what they have now and move to that site,creating their profile,linking with others,inviting all their friends there because,it's new and it is a new cool place to hang out,to get noticed.

There is nothing wrong about this,who doesn't want to be seen among cool people,among the top people in the industry,you will get the much needed attention and getting the boost you always need for yourself,your blog.

But what about that old social network site that you just left,that you abandon to be in this new site.What about all the friends you have there,the links that you have created.Using social network site now is not just about getting to know other people,but more and more are using to expose their work,their blog especially.But if you keep on jumping to the latest craze on the Internet,and abandoning your effort to create a whole new profile and links there,that is not such a good move.

Not all social network site have good impact on exposing yourself and your blog.While taking time to create your presence on the latest site,keep on building what you have on the existing one.Jumping to every new social network site available and joining too many of it can be bad for your blog,because you will be spending more time there instead of updating your blog and looking for resources for your post.

Join just one or two social networking site and spend just the right time on it,there are other things that needs your time to,like posting to your blog,doing your SEO,connecting with your existing readers and contacts,replying their comments and emails.Neglecting them to get new readers will be a very big mistake.Most good bloggers said that getting readers for your blog is one big task,keeping them as your blog readers is a much bigger task for you.

It is great to get notice and getting new friends from a new place,but lets not forget the real true friend that have help in making your blog popular and successful,your existing readers.Social networking sites are things that you can do,but it is not something you must do.Don't indulge yourself into just one particular things because there are a lot of other factors that will contribute to your blog success.

 

Concentrate On Your Blog.

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Once you have start blogging,it is not just about writing post and updating your blog.You will be tweaking your blog,play around with your template to make it look better and different,you will start doing things to expose your blog,visiting other blogs,commenting,moderate comments on your blog,giving response to the comments,maybe emails you received.Learn new things,add new widget..etc..etc.

Now more and more blogger are involved with Blog Community,Social Media and Social Networking,seems that more and more things are need to be done.How do you use all that available time?It is good to spend time on all those things,but always remember,the real reason you are doing it is to make friends,to expose your blog,to network with other blogger,to expose your blog.The main thing is to expose your blog,but what is there to expose if you spend way too much time on these things that you don't have enough time to do research for your blog content,you sacrifice your blog content and posting so you can do your networking thing.

Your blog is alive and will keep on being alive if you update it regularly with good quality content.The most important time to be spent on are on researching for your blog post,making a regular posting and by doing your research,you will be able to provide informative and meaningful articles for your readers.

Don't over indulge your self with things related to your blogging life but spent real quality time on building and making your blog better,especially with fresh,quality content.

 

Source For My Blog.

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One of the biggest problems that a blogger face is in updating the blog with fresh new material regularly.It won't be that difficult for personal blogs since anything can be written to be added to the blog,but what about niche blogs,something like mine.

I do find it difficult to write and update my blog regularly when I first start blogging,but I hope with this method that I use now,it can help me overcome it and maybe you can use it too if you find it helpful.
  • Emails/Newsletter.I'm sure most of you do subscribe to some kind of newsletter.I subscribe to maybe 3 or 4 newsletter,mostly about blogging,so I find that some of the articles very interesting and have very valuable lesson.I will take some point that I find interesting or important,and I will write something new out of it,something from my own perspective and view.Even emails from friends or blogging members can be used to create an article for my blog post,as long as I can relate it to blogging.
  • Feeds.I subscribe to 4 or 5 feeds from blogging blogs and you will get new ideas just from reading what they wrote in their blog.You MUST not copy the whole article,but you can write about the topic with your own view and maybe adding something that you know that was not in their articles.
  • Comments.Sometimes I receive comments from someone who ask about my previous article or disagreeing with it and I will use this to write a whole new post about it,rather that replying it through the comment section.This way it can be shared with a lot of other readers instead of just some who might be looking at the comments.
  • Forums.I always say that it is important to join forums,not only to expose your blog,but you can find a lot of interesting new things and a lot of question being asked about blogging in it,from this,I get a lot of ideas on what to write on my blog.There are also things about template,making money,sports,poem and almost everything there is in forums because forum members have a blog about a lot of different things and topics.You might find something interesting about your niche somewhere in the forums thread.
  • Archive.When I have no where else to go to,I look back at my older post,but instead of re-posting it,I wrote it back with a new perspective,adding new views and input.
  • Other blogs.Other than reading my mails and feeds,I visited a few other blogs everyday,some from my niche,some just random blogs,but I can always find some thing that I can write while doing this,maybe by reading their post or maybe just by looking at how they presented their blogs.
  • Books/Internet.I love to read and I still have a few books that I haven't finish reading,mostly about Internet Marketing,Blogging and SEO and I'm sure I can find some interesting topic when I'm done reading it,but I always look for something new to add to my reading material and the best way is by doing search for free ebooks on those 3 topics so I know I won't run out of things to read.
  • Notebook.I have wrote before on why you must always bring a notebook and pen where ever you go,because it will come in handy when you suddenly have an idea about what to post to your blog.My last 5 post is from the points that I write in my notebook,I just have to elaborate when I do my post,nice isn't it?
It is not a guarantee that you will not face anymore problems when you want to make a post,but I'm sure it will help a lot,especially when you want to take a leave for a holiday,vacation.You don't have to leave your blog without any new post for that period because you can schedule it and by having points to write in your notebook and from a lot of resources,you can easily make 5 to 6 schedule post while you enjoy your holiday or vacation.I sometimes schedule 1 to 2 post so that I can do something else without having to worry about not making a post.

 

Learn From Your Blog.

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A blog is where you write about whatever you like,you know,you love and letting others maybe learn form you through what you wrote,the experience or knowledge that you share.But what can you actually learn from your own blog?
  • Comments.Readers will leave their comments after reading your articles,some agreeing with you,some don't,some will share their own knowledge and experience.This is how you will learn from your blog.Communication with your readers through comments will help you learn more about them,what they like,what they don't really like,their background,even learn from what they have to say through their own experience and knowledge.Some good bloggers can even turn this into a whole new post.
  • Emails.Another way of communicating with your readers,and getting feedback's from them.Listen to what your readers have to say,and give it your attention,because they are the one who read what you write,who determine the success of your blog.Ignoring them is a big mistake,ignoring their suggestion so your blog could be better is a much bigger one!
  • Statistic.Bloggers just love statistic about their blog,some are even obsessed by it,but just looking at it and doing nothing with the data you have at your disposal to further improve your writing and your blog is such a waste.You can know where your traffic come from,if from search,you can know which keywords bring them to your blog,you know which articles get more readers.All this are important data that you can use.You will know what kind of articles your readers like,what keywords to use more.Some bloggers even look at which day bring the highest number of traffic,so they go for the killer articles on this day!(For my 3 blogs,the highest number of visitors are on Thursday..I always wonder why?)
These 3 things are things that are always available to you,it is up to you how to use it,to learn from it to make your blog better.

 

Our Own Reason To Start Blogging.

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We all have our own reason why we start a blog.You can see some the reason here.
  • Just for fun.
  • To share your experience.
  • A place to let go of your emotion.
  • Just for fun and make some money.
  • Just to make money.
  • Blogging for your company.
  • Blogging for your business.
  • Blogging for certain cause like environment,human rights.
We use the tools that we have to start blogging,mostly PC but more and more are using laptops nowadays,especially with easy Internet connectivity in cafes,malls.Some even have other luxury by using other gadgets in helping them to blog like their mobile phones,and can afford to buy certain tools or software that will help enhance their blogging experience and capability.

Most are part time bloggers,who have daily jobs and blog during their spare time,but many have become full time bloggers since they have earn enough from blogging making them able to quit their daily jobs.

I start blogging because I'm broke and jobless,and yes,I'm doing it full time and have been doing it for the past 3 month.Do I get any income from it?not yet,not even enough to pay my bills or rent.What are the tools I use?My old PC that I bought 5 years ago,an Intel Celeron 1.7,that I feel lucky I didn't sell,the only thing that I still have with me,and it has help me a lot,given me a chance to try my luck at blogging.

That is why I'm blogging using a free platform,I can't afford to buy my own domain or get my own hosting.

Blogging is not about what you have to achieve what you want,it is about your willingness to achieve what you want.I'm down and out with my life,but I still got something that I can use to turn it around,so I used it,I try everything,looking for jobs,goes for interviews,but being 40 and competing with much younger and more qualified person,you just don't have the edge.But blogging is open to everybody,it doesn't promise anything,but there are people who have succeed.

I see blogs been abandoned,blogs which have nothing much about the content,yet full of ads,because the believe of monetizing blogs,but going about it the wrong way.I'm in a difficult situation,but that doesn't mean I have to look for shortcuts.I'm willing to work my way up,try my luck in monetizing my blog,not by people clicking on ads,but I want to build my blog with content,maybe it is not such a good or quality content,but at least some original content,and with it I want to build my readership.

You must have strong self belief,willing to work hard,don't give excuse and give it your best,it doesn't promise you success,but at least you know you try your best.If I can do it with limited resources,what is stopping you from doing better?

 

Getting Use To Blogging.

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My mom always told me,when you learn something new,at first it will be hard,but with practice and patience,you will learn and be good at doing it.She likes to give an example in riding a bicycle,it is hard to do it the first time you try,controlling the handle and the paddle while balancing your body all at the same time,but once you get it right,it will be fun and easy.Even when you don't do it for sometime,once you want to ride again,you know what to do,and you will always be able to ride.

But when you know how to ride,your eagerness sometimes overcome you,and you ride it without thinking to much about the danger,you ride too fast and you fall,you pick yourself up and learn from your mistake.Blogging is so much like that,when you first start,everything seems so hard,you have to crack your head thinking what to write,how to expose your blog to get decent traffic to your blog,what to add to your blog to make it look interesting or different from other blogs,all at the same time,but once you get the hang of it,it seems to be easier,then you start to make mistake,you are going too fast,you wrote 5 to 6 post daily,do whatever necessary to get traffic,not thinking what kind of traffic it is,then something happen,you face a writers block,you can't even think of one article to post to your blog,it goes on for 2-3 days,by the time you start writing again,some of your readers have left you.You pick yourself up and learn from your mistake.You post 1 article every 2 days,but you do it consistently,so your readers know that is the frequency of your posting,you will post something in between if there is something interesting,but still you keep your blog updated regularly and consistently.

I make that mistake when I first started,I want to post daily,but then I realized,I don't have it in me to do it,but instead of taking time off,I start posting every two days,and with it I have some time to do other things apart from blogging,and some things related to blogging,like doing research for my next post,preparing notes so it will be easy when I want to write and reading just to keep myself updated with the latest happenings in the blogging world and on the Internet.

Some tips I like to share from my very short experience in blogging.
  • Always be prepared.
  • Always be organized.
  • Read a lot to increase your knowledge.
  • Use common sense.
  • Learn from others,especially seasoned and well known bloggers and don't underestimate new bloggers too,you can learn some tricks and tips from them as well.
  • You must try new things,but if it is a mistake,learn from it.If you don't try,you wouldn't know if it is good or not.
  • Never give up easily.
  • Never be easily satisfied.
  • Always willing to learn.
  • Always willing to improve.
  • Always strive to be the best.

 

Posting To Your Blog.

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A blog is not a blog without content,the difference between a blog and a website are a blog is regularly updated with what is supposed to be fresh,quality content.It is not hard to come across a blog that is not updated for a month,a few month or even a year.It is also not hard to see blogs without quality content too,especially if the blog is about a certain niche.

I've written many times before on why you should blog about topics that you know to be able to write regularly about it.What I want to share this time is about how to write your article,or making a post to your blog.
  • Topic.Write about things related to the topic of your blog.You can write about something else once in a while,maybe something about you personally,but keep it to the minimum.People subscribe to your blog because they are interested about the article which are relevant to your blog topic,but if you wandered off this topics to many times or constantly writing something unrelated,don't be surprised to see your subscribers declining.
  • Knowledge.You must have knowledge about your blog topic,and you can share your knowledge,experience by writing it in your blog.Knowing what you write will leave an impression among your readers that you know your stuff,earning you credibility and will certainly make you an authority figure about that particular topic.You can always add this knowledge,and get latest news by doing research and reading.Read and research your blog articles.
  • Keyword.An important aspect that you should not leave out while writing your article.Mixing related keywords in your articles will help boost your SEO,but don't fill your articles with keywords until your article become meaningless,write good informative article and blending in nicely all those necessary keywords into it.
  • Title.Some write the title and then the article,some wrote the article and then choose a suitable title,which ever it is,give your article a good,attractive,attention grabbing title.That is how newspaper are sold,the title attract people to buy it,they just have to know what is the story behind the title.
  • Points.If you have an idea about what to post to your blog,write it in your notebook or on a piece of paper in point forms.Write your post according to those points,elaborating about it as you write.
  • Formats.Write your article and break long post into paragraph.Use numbering or bullets when giving breakdown,align your post to the left or justify it to make your posting look neat .
  • Fonts.Choose the right font and the right font size for your article.Use simple font and a good font size so it is not too small or too big.
  • Highlighting.Highlight important words by making it bold,or using italic on names or title.Only use coloured text when it is really necessary,because sometimes readers will confuse it as links,and don't use colourful text if it is a niche blog.You can find it normally on personal blogs,but I don't see the reason in doing so.
  • Be yourself.Write the way you want to,as you like and as you see fit.You are not submitting the articles to get exam grades or writing an English Literature.Some people will complain about your grammar,or how bad your English is,you have no flow in your article.Take it all in your stride,everybody loves to be a critic,it is easy to give critic and the most important thing is,nobody is perfect.The important thing is readers can understand you.
Writing an article,posting it to your blog is something that you have to get used to.Once you do it regularly,routinely,the flow will come,and it won't be as hard when you first start writing.

 

Are You An Organized Blogger?

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Do you do your posting depending on which ever time you have to do it?Do you have any certain daily schedule that you follow or you just do things depending on your mood,on your available time?Do you have any certain priority things that top your daily list of things to do?Do you even have a Things To Do Today notes attach anywhere near your workstation or you don't even know what it is?

Being organized is an important factor that you might want to consider if you want to be a successful blogger simply because..
  • It will help you perform your daily task more efficiently.
  • Since you are doing your task more efficiently,you can concentrate more on giving your readers good content.
  • You can add more task like having another blog,or doing post for other blogs.
  • You can have more time doing other non blogging related things,like your health and your family and even quality time for yourself.
My daily "Things To Do" arrangement are like this.
  • Read Emails.
  • Read feed from reader.
  • Moderating comments.
  • Take a break.
  • Research.(For my post content or just as common knowledge)
  • Notes(For my post,normally I do this on weekend and write about 15-20 post points)
  • Posting to my blogs.
  • Schedule posting(This is still new to me)
  • Take another break.
  • Visit other blogs.
  • Spend time in forums.
  • Social networking/social media(I seldom do this but have to put more effort and time doing it)
  • Time to rest.
How you spend and organized your time depends on whether you are blogging part time or full time,but still it is important to keep thing organized with a schedule that you have to learn to follow.Learn to have a pen and a small notebook as a companion where ever you go,you never know when the idea will suddenly come,I've wrote about this before and you can read it here.

When you have some ideas,write it in point forms,this way you can easily have points for about 15-20 posts.You can elaborate while you write your post.It won't be easy,but once you get used to it,you will find it exciting.Being prepared and organized will definitely bring your blogging experience to a new level,you will feel more relax,your ideas will come more easily because it has taken the stress out of your blogging life.

 

Does Blogging Have Similarity With Cooking?

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I love to cook,I've been a cook in some part of my life and I cook daily now since I live on my own so I do see some similarity between blogging and cooking.

What would you need when you want to cook?Firstly you must decide what the menu would be,same as blogging,when you want to start a blog,you have to decide what you should blog about.Once you know what your menu would be,you buy all the ingredient,prepare it,and you must have some kitchen utensil like a knife,chopping board and a pan to cook your meal and a stove to cook it on,or maybe you use a microwave oven.Same as blogging,once you decide what you want to blog about,you make notes on what your article would be,which blogging platform to use and there are certain tools that you need to add to your blog.

I have no formal training on how to cook,I mostly learn through observation,especially looking at how my mother would prepare the dish,and later learning by looking at how the senior cook do it.I also watch cooking programs on TV to add some extra knowledge.Same goes for blogging,there are no formal training for bloggers,no school to attend,but we learn by looking at other blogs,especially the one by a well known blogger.We watch video tutorials,read ebooks about blogging,the rest is a trial by error process.

Almost anybody can cook,or must have cook something in their whole life,maybe a burger,frying eggs,but not all can cook very well,like preparing lunch or dinner for a few friends,or maybe cooking a special dinner for your date to impress him or her.Anybody can start their own blog,a very simple blog about daily happenings in life,or maybe a specific niche blog,about making money,weight loss,celebrity,religion or even blogging tips,but,like cooking,not everybody can blog very well,maybe you are an average blogger,or you don't have it in you to actually be a good blogger,but like cooking,you can always learn,and these days,there are instant food that you can prepare just by putting it in the microwave,turn on the heat,and its ready,but it won't taste as good as the one being prepared from scratch,the same goes about blogging,there are a lot of tools that you can use,you can even get free articles to put on your blog if you find it hard to write one on your own,but it won't be as good as the one that you wrote yourself.

I don't have a stove or a microwave oven,but I can still prepare my food,simply by using my rice cooker!One of the most important thing I learn about cooking is how to improvise,to make use of whatever that is available,but still manage to prepare a decent dish for lunch,or dinner.You can always apply it to blogging too,you have limited resources,so you use free blogging platform instead of paying for a domain and hosting,use whatever that is available for you,and don't give excuse if you really want to start a blog,really want to be a serious blogger.There are free blog templates if you want your blog to look different,all kind of free widgets that you can add to your blog to make it look better and different.

Once you are done cooking,it is time to eat.How does it taste?Good..then you have it in you..Awful..you better just buy your lunch and dinner or ask someone to cook for you.You have finish writing your post,now it is time to publish it..you read it once,twice..satisfied..you hit the publish button..or you read it once,change something a bit,read it again..still there is something wrong..in the end..you just delete the whole post because you think it is not good enough.If you taste your cooking and feels that it taste so bad,imagine what others will say if you give it to them,same goes for blogging,if you doesn't feel that your writing is good,how would others respond to it,maybe blogging is not for you,even though you know people do make money blogging,don't make a fool of yourself trying to be like them,because they achieve it not in 3 month time and by using free articles.

I love to cook,that is why I can easily learn about it and be good at it because I do it regularly,the same goes to blogging,I love blogging,that is why I can still be here,posting to my blog,doing it regularly so I can one day be very good at it.It is easier to learn when you learn about something you like,and you will have fun doing it,because it is something that you love doing.I cook for fun,but because of it,I improve myself,become a good cook and I get paid doing it,so hopefully I will find the same kind of success blogging.

 

Choosing Your Own Blogging Path.

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What ever niche you choose to blog about,I'm sure there are others who have chosen the same niche or will choose that niche too,and the one who have started blogging longer than you might have been successful with their blog,and the one who started at maybe the same time as yours or later might probably be in the same situation that you are in right now,still struggling in getting some decent traffic,maybe 10 or 20 people have subscribe while you wish it could have been more,still tweaking your blog to make it look better,always thinking is it a good idea to start with a free blogging platform or you should register your own domain and get your own hosting.

First of all,what you really need when you want to start blogging is self confidence,you must get rid of all the negative thinking if you want to start blogging.Once you have got that out of the way,you have to think on what you want to blog about,personal things,making money,blogging tips,technology,gadgets,pets,travel,life,beauty are among the thing you can blog about,but be sure to choose something that you really know rather than something that you feel is popular.I've seen a few blogs that have very random content from cricket,gadgets to Britney Spears all in one blog!How would people relate to you if you keep on writing about things that you just pick from anywhere and posted it in your blog,because it is popular and you hope it will help build your page rank or maybe you will end up in the top search engine results.

Once you have choose your blog topic,you have to choose which platform to use,if you have good income,get your own domain and hosting,it will certainly be good for your credibility because people do look up at blogs that are not using free hosting,but for me,this is all that I can afford at this time,so I will stick with Blogger for now.After that you can start blogging,and remember to post regularly with good quality and hopefully original content so your blog will be popular in 6 to 12 month time,or if you are lucky,you can achieve it within 3 month!With the long period of getting your blog popular,you surely need a lot of patience,and only this can help you achieve what you want,what your goal is,there are no shortcuts and you have to learn about SEO,you must if you want your blog on the top rank of search results.

So basically you need about 5 things to start blogging.
  • Self confidence.
  • Topic you know.
  • Blogging platform.
  • Patience.
  • Learn SEO.
There are other things you need to do like joining forums,leaving comments on other blogs,submit your blog to blog directories,network with other bloggers,linking with others but those 5 things are things you MUST do and have to make sure you will achieve success,with those other things acting as supplement in achieving your target,your goals.Most of the bloggers that I see put importance to comments and linking in trying to expose their blog and gaining popularity,but sadly they don't exactly have a blog with good topic,most of it are random post which they get from other sites.

Do you want to waste your time on something less important or do you prefer to let your content do the talking?Choose carefully because your blog existence depend on it.

 

Is Blogging Easy?

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I saw someone posted this question in a forum.It get lots of replies from other forum members,most of them saying blogging is easy,the hard part is getting traffic to your blog.I'm not an expert about blogging,nor have I been blogging long enough to know everything there is to know about blogging,but I would like to share some of my opinion and experience regarding this.
  • Why do you want to have a blog?This is an important question I ask myself before I started my blog.Is it going to be a personal blog,doing it for fun,as a hobby or I want to be a serious blogger,maybe in some way monetizing it or maybe I should start a business blog.Most personal blogs is done for fun an as a hobby,but somehow because of ways to monetize it,some of it has become blogs for the reason of monetizing it,either by using ads or doing paid posting.You will earn some money from it,but most probably your credibility and popularity will also suffer.Ask yourself this question,do you want to blog for short term or long term?
  • Topics.Personal blogs doesn't concentrate on certain topics,it can cover a lot of different topics depending on the blog owner.More targeted blogs or niche blogs normally are done for long term benefits,of gaining popularity and monetizing it and business blogging are blogs supplementing the blog owner business and it is done to help promote and creating awareness.
  • Content.A major factor of a blog development and progress.You can write your own articles or maybe get it free from article directory sites.The best is to write your own article,and a well written article can help bring quality traffic to you site and help with your SEO.
  • Design.There are lots of templates to choose from,or you can create your own.A blog design will have some effect on how well your blog is received by others.
  • Traffic.Everybody wants it and want lots if it.You have to learn how to bring traffic to your site,and this can be time consuming and sometimes will get you frustrated.Keep on learning,do all the possible things to help bring traffic and have a lot of patience.SEO,link exchange,tagging,Entrecard are all things that you can learn and do to help increase your traffic.
  • Updating.It is not always about your content.You have to update your blog regularly with new articles,but you have to keep on tweaking your blog,changing the layout to make it as nice as possible,add a few important things and getting rid of unnecessary ones.
  • Motivation.There are times when you will find that you have no idea to update your blog,you find it is taking a lot of your time,your effort without getting the desired results.That is why it is important to really know why you want to start a blog,do you have what it takes to keep on going,what will keep you motivated to carry on.If you have a certain goal,a certain target,no matter how hard it is,it won't stop you or hold you back.When The Going Gets Tough,The Tough Gets Going.
  • Monetizing your blog.It is completely different from a business blog.A business blog is about using a blog to promote,market and popularized your business,but monetizing your blog is getting income directly from your blog,through ads mostly.To really have a good income,you have to have a certain amount of loyal readers,and this won't and can't be achieved in 3 month.If you really want to monetize your blog,set it for long term,build your blog,build your credibility and popularity and you will get a chance at it.If you think it can be achieve in short terms,than you will be frustrated.
  • Subscribers.Allow people to subscribe to your blog by adding RSS button or email subscription.Write good and valuable content,and you will get people subscribing to your blog,and by providing good,fresh,quality and valuable content,you will see your subscribers increase with time.
  • Blogging platform.There is Bloggers,Wordpress,TypePad and others that you can choose from,you can have your own domain,your own hosting for it too.It is all up to you which one to choose.
I never consider blogging to be easy,even if I have a personal blog.Starting one is certainly easy,but to maintain it,updating it regularly with good content,exposing it are not,but even though it is not easy,I feel it is fun to do,because you always learn new things,blogging to me is an on going learning process,you will make mistake along the way,but it is for your benefit if you learn from your mistakes.You get to know other bloggers,build your own bogging network with fellow bloggers,learn from them,they will learn something from you,sharing new things.The most satisfying results after the effort,the time you spend on your blog is the readers you have,how your blog have developed over the years.You will get the satisfaction if you have set a target,and you finally achieve it.Blogging is not easy,you need to work hard,have lots of patience,but if you really love doing it,it will be fun and rewarding.

 

Want To Make Your Blog Popular?

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I've compiled this list which I gather from a few blogs of successful bloggers which talked about how they achieve their status now.The list is long,but I just took the more important one and share it with all of you here.Hope we can learn from it and apply it to our blog.
  1. Good domain name.Choose your domain name wisely.Make your domain name one that is easy to remember,relevant to your blog topic and if possible have the certain targeted keyword that are related to your topic.
  2. Regular posting.We always see this advice,yet there are certain bloggers who doesn't seem to understand the importance of posting regularly,consistently.Write 3 or 4 post and schedule it to appear on your blog if you have to go some where for a certain period of time.
  3. Forum signatures.This is why bloggers are encourage to join forums,other than getting your blog expose by having your blog links in your signature,it will also help with your search engine optimization,but be sure you are an active member and always lend your thoughts and helping other forum members.
  4. Link trading.One of the popular things among bloggers,but make sure you trade links with blogs that are relevant,then it will help with your SEO.Linking with bad blogs,or blogs that are link farms can do damage to your blogs,so choose your link trade partner wisely.
  5. Social bookmarking sites.Submit your blog to social bookmarking sites to help it gain popularity.You can submit it to Digg,del.icio.us and mixx.
  6. Comments.Another popular advice,even though it is one of the oldest way in helping to make your blog popular.Give good comments,and other bloggers will notice you,but if you spam other bloggers comments,or give simple comments like "Good article",it won't do you or your blog any good.
  7. Replying your mails.When you have come to a certain level of blogging,you will start receiving mails from your readers,commenting about your blog,giving ideas or just about anything,take some time to reply it.This shows that you care and value their thoughts,their feelings,and you make them feel welcome,and that they are part of your blog.Remember,your readers are the one that help make your blog popular.
  8. Logo.It is good to create your own logo for your blog,a trademark that is easy to remember,when people look at it,they will immediately associate it with your blog.This will give your blog an extra edge over other blogs.
  9. Font and background colour.Choose the right font and background colour if your blog is not a personal blog,make it look professional.Even if you have a personal blog,you don't want to turn people off by choosing some colourful fonts and background colours that didn't match.
  10. Image.Adding image to your content can certainly help make your blog look more attractive and interesting,but remember to choose the right image that is relevant to your post and your blog.
  11. Join blogging communities.The most popular one that I know and that I join is Blog Catalog and MyBlogLog.By joining can certainly help expose you and your blog to other bloggers in the communities.
  12. Pinging services.Use pinging services like Google Blog Search,Technorati and ping-o-matic to help expose your blog.If you use feedburner FeedFlare,it will automatically ping certain social bookmarking sites each time you make a new post to your blog.
  13. RSS.Allow readers to subscribe to your blog by providing this service.Let the readers choose to subscribe through readers or emails.It is surprising that awareness about RSS feeds is still lacking among bloggers,and even if they do,they seldom educate their readers about its benefit.
  14. Advertisement.Don't put too many ads on your blog,this will turn readers away,because it seems like you are more concern in getting ads revenue rather than having quality contents.Most common bloggers mistake is thinking that by putting as many ads possible,and putting it all on top of their blogs will help them earn money.Write good content,attract as many readers as possible,then you will earn some decent income from ads on your blogs.When your blog is popular,it will become hot property,advertisers will offer to put ads on your blog,and you can charge monthly fees for a spot,which one would you prefer?
Have you done all there is to make your blog popular?Or do you have any other method that maybe I didn't mention?Leave a comment so we can share.

 

Good Habits For Your Blog Success.

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Most bloggers already know what it takes to be successful.There are many blogs out there out lining what you should blog about,how to get traffic to your blog,how to monetize your blog,etc.But then there are others who are still searching for what should they blog about,what to write,how to get traffic,lots of other how to..What I consider the most important rules that you must know before you even start a blog is to understand the need to start it.Some started a blog,but then lost direction on what the blog should be about,this is the most important thing that you must first determine before you start,no matter it is a personal blog or which ever type of blog you intend to start.

Once you have that all sorted out,you already have a set a goal of what your blog is about,what you want to achieve with it,you might want to consider this good habits that can help you and your blog grow and become successful.
  • Frequent posting.It doesn't mean that you have to make a post everyday,but try to have a schedule and try to stick to your schedule.Some bloggers write a post,left it there for 3 or 4 days,write another post,and leave it again for 4 or 5 days,or maybe left the blog unattended for 1 or 2 weeks.This is not good for your blog.If you have attracted some followers,by not getting new,fresh post,they might leave,and for new readers,noticing that you have not been updating for sometime,might just turn them away.
  • Commenting.The best possible way there is to expose your blog,network with other bloggers,yet people still are reluctant to do it,sometimes even when people leave comments on your blog,you just don't take the time to return the favour.Make it a daily routine to visit at least 10 blogs and leaving comment,you can increase this later.This will certainly help other bloggers to notice you,and can help expose you and your blog,but remember to give good and valuable comments.
  • Personality.Your blog represent your personality.Interacting with your readers by replying their comments,their emails shows that you care about them and value their contribution to your blog.
  • Patience.Most bloggers lack patience,they want to see results and they want it as fast as possible.Do you realized you are in competition with how many blogs?Do you know how many blogs are being started daily?Do you know how many blogs in the same niche as yours?Be patient,stay focus and you will soon see the rewards.
  • Content.Content is King,so they say,and it certainly is,but not all content.Valuable content will help your blog grow,something that can be of value to your readers,maybe the impact is small,but still with each post you give value and knowledge to your readers,that is important and that is the reason they will keep coming back.
  • Honesty.Be honest to your readers,they will value you for this and will help build their trust and help with your credibility.
  • Goals.As I said earlier,you must set a goal on what you want to achieve,as you progress,check your goals and see if you already achieve it,set new ones to keep you motivated to go on.
What do you think?Do you have any other good habits to share from your own personal blogging experience?

 

Do You Use Free Articles?

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Do you know that you can use articles written by others and use it on your blog or websites?These are free articles and it covers a lot of topics and I am sure you can find topics related to your blog very easily.A very popular place to look for this free articles is at Ezine Articles,where authors submit their article because they wanted to promote their blog and gain some good search engine rankings.When this author submit their articles,they can put their link to that article and anyone using those articles are required to put that link on their blog or website,helping the original author getting backlinks.The author get to expose his blog,get some backlinks and help his search engine rankings and you have an article for your blog,it is good for everyone involve,so you think.

Free articles actually can do your blog more harm than good.Yes,you can easily get an article for your blog,but starting a blog is suppose to be about writing your own stuff,about things that you like and that you know,so why use free articles?
  • A blog is suppose to deliver useful information,from your own knowledge,or maybe you read it somewhere and wanted to share it with your readers,something that is written by you,not something written by someone else,and maybe you are not the only one using that article.
  • A blog is suppose to be about your personal thought,your personal view regarding the topic of your blog.By using free articles,you are using your blog to show somebody else view and thoughts,not yours,and certainly there is no originality.You can write about topic that others have wrote about,but write it yourself,in your own way,your own style and maybe you can add something that is missing from what others have wrote,or approach it from a different angle.
  • Search engine love unique content,if you are using free articles,there is nothing unique about it,because hundreds or thousands other people might be using that same article.You might end up getting penalized by Google because of "Duplicate Content" and it won't help your search engine rankings one bit.
  • A blog is suppose to give value to the readers and by using free articles you certainly are not doing this,you are cheating your readers.Imagine your readers reaction when they found those same articles at some other blogs?It will certainly send your credibility tumbling down.Your readers want to read what you wrote,your view,your thought,not something written by someone else,and some of those articles are not even worth reading,if you don't believe me,go have a look.
  • People resort to using free articles because they start blogging for all the wrong reason.If you start your blog about things that you know,that you like,will you be having trouble to make a post?
I've read in Internet Marketing books,use a blog to start making money online,if you don't know what to write,don't worry,you can always use free articles,maybe this is one of the reason why people use this free articles.

 

What Many People Think About Blogs.

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A lot is known about what a blog is and its impact to the Internet,yet there are people who are still sceptical and still unaware about a blog potential.

  • It is a platform for personal grouse or experience.A weblog or blog is certainly somewhat like an online diary,but now it is use more in breaking news and is gaining popularity if compared with traditional mainstream media like news on television or newspapers.
  • Nobody reads them.Research by Pew Internet & American Life Project estimated that 32 million American reads blog regularly and that is only in America,what about other countries where blog is quite popular too.
  • Nobody makes money with blog.Problogger,TechCrunch and John Chow,just to name a few A-list blogger that have a six figure annual income blogging,Perez Hilton celebrity blog earn as much as $50,000 a month,not to mention other non A-list blogger that earn from $1,000 to $5,000 a month.
  • I prefer a website.Blogs have many advantages,among it are most blog is updated regularly,consistently,meaning each time you visit,there will be new posts.It is easy to arrange information on your blog in chronological order,meaning it is arrange from the latest to the older one and search engine just love this sort of structure.Blog is easy to update,easy to maintain.Blogs also allow user interaction,making it an efficient platform to build communities.
  • It won't last long.Many people say that blogs will die sooner or later.There are blogs that no longer exist,or being abandoned not because blogging is dead,but mostly because the blogger lack direction when it starts,and by not achieving anything,they abandoned it.Everyday 120,000 new blogs are created,and there are 22 blogs currently in the Top100 most popular media websites on the Internet and there is certainly no sign that blogs are dying or will disappear.
  • You can easily make money blogging.As contrast to some believe that you cannot earn from your blog,there is this certain thought that believe it is easy to make money blogging.To make some additional income,this is certainly true,but to make a living from blogging takes time,hard work and lots of patience.
  • A good blog and good content can get you traffic.Yes and no..yes because a good blog with great content can certainly attract some decent followers and no because even though your blog is good,with great content,you still have to expose it,so people will know about your blog,then you will get traffic.
Inspired by :Top 5 Blogging Myth by Daniel Scocco,Daily Blog Tips.

 

Any Certain Path To Blogging Success?

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Do Not Go Where The Path May Lead,Go Instead Where There Is No Path And Leave A Trail - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

When you start your blog,there are lots of other bloggers who are at the same level as you,just starting off,because of this,it is hard to really place some value on your self,your blog.You just have to keep on working your way through,doing all the possible thing,the right thing to keep you on the right track.By progressing on the right track,in the right time will make you and your blog last longer.

Most of us start from nothing,from scratch,so there is no certain advantage to anyone really except for what you choose to blog about,but how come some make it and some don't?It depends on the step you make,the path you choose.Some bloggers push them self to make their blog better,getting traffic to their blog that they spend so much time on their blog than anything else.There are times when they realize they are going too fast,so they slow things a bit,but some bloggers just give it all up or start to ignore their blogs because they are not getting the results that they hoped for after spending all those time,making all those effort.

Blogging needs patience and persistence.It takes time to build your blog,getting traffic to it and with patience and persistence,your blog can be popular,you can be popular,but when you achieve this,there will be people who just hated you because you are popular,your blog are popular.Just ignore this type of people,you have done so much,gone through so much to be where you are,don't let this stop you from getting to the top.

After all that have been said,it is actually up to you to decide who do you want to be,what do you want to achieve,what kind of blog do you want to have.

I choose my own path..Yes..I have 3 blog including this,but I don't do what other bloggers do.Some bloggers choose to earn some money by joining PayPerPost,or SocialSpark,and then wonder why they suddenly get lower page rank.That is why I'm not doing it.Some bloggers want to make money using their blog by placing a lot of ads on their blog,but have no real content,and complain they don't get lots of traffic.People look for blogs to find something interesting to read,not to look at ads.I only have AdSense on my blog,and no ads yet on my personal blog.Bloggers really love to exchange links,but sometimes they don't really understand what kind of links that is actually useful for them,so they just exchange links with any possible bloggers who wanted to.I put other bloggers links that I find really interesting on my blog,and I never ask them to do the same for me.I always believe in myself,trust my instinct and even though what I'm doing,actually what I'm not doing may look odd,but that is just me.I follow my own path,and maybe leave a trail for others to follow.

 

What I Need To Start A Blog.

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Everybody..and I mean everybody can have their own blog,if you have access to a PC or laptop with Internet connection.These day everybody want to have a blog,especially when they know that somehow you can earn money just blogging.I don't mind if they have these on their mind when they start a blog because it is up to you for what reason you want to start a blog and what your blog is about.My concern is the lack of knowledge.Knowledge Is Power..but what kind of knowledge?You know what a blog is,you know it can earn you money..is that enough?Is that the only knowledge you have to help and guide you in your journey to earn money blogging?

I always like to look at blogging as an ongoing learning process,meaning you will learn more when you get involve,knowing other bloggers,looking at other blogs,reading other blogs,updating yourself with the latest news,but this doesn't mean you don't need some knowledge when you want to start.The most important reason people start a blog is because they want someone else to read it,they want lots of people to read it.That is why bloggers are concern about traffic,about their page rank,wanted to exchange links and so on.

I want to share some of the question that I came across in forums that I join,and you decide if knowledge is important to bloggers or not.
  • What is traffic?
  • How do I get targeted readers to my blog?
  • Why no one visit my blog?
  • I've been updating my blog regularly,but I still haven't got any Page Rank(PR),and by the way,I just started blogging last week.
  • Why my blog is not indexed by Google?
  • How do I get people to subscribe to my blog and can someone tell me how to do it.
  • What should I write in my blog?
  • How do I get a counter for my blog?
  • I want to start blogging,can someone suggest where I can get a free blog,I'm a bit tight on budget but really love to write.
  • What is the best topic to blog about?
  • What is AdSense?
  • What should I do to get my blog approved by AdSense?
  • I'm using blogger,please suggest which template is suitable for AdSense.
  • What other ads can I put on my blog other than AdSense?
OK..I agree..some of these question do sound funny,but remember,this are real question posted in forums,not one that I created.I'm not an expert,but I do my best to answer to all those question based on what I know,what I've read and what I've done personally,and some other forum members share what they know too.

I learn a lot by looking at other blogs.If I find an interesting buttons or widgets,I just put my cursor there,and look at the website URL down on the left hand corner of my PC,write it down and when I have time,I'll visit the site to know more about it.

Basic things you have to know.
  • What is blog?
  • Which blogging platform is popular and free.
  • Set a topic for your blog about things you know.
  • How to bring traffic to your blog.
There are actually lots of things that you have to know like search engine,SEO,blog directories,links,social media and many more.Prepare yourself with knowledge,and keep on adding this knowledge if you're serious about blogging.The most important knowledge is how to get traffic to your blog,and to achieve this,you have to know lots of things..and one other major thing you must have is..PATIENCE.

 

Blog Life Span - A Bloggers View.

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A blog sometimes have a very short life span.Most people give it 3 month,other are bit generous and giving it 6 month.No..a blog doesn't have any serious illness that given the seriousness making it life span that short.What determine the life span of a blog is its owner..you,me and any other blogger.

A blogger starts a blog,write the first post and publish it for the rest of the world to see..but after three days there is still no one reading it except for mom and dad,little sis,big brother who says what silly thing you wrote on your blog..well..at least you got your first comment even though he gave it straight in the face instead of writing it,which if you set your comment to be moderated will certainly have no chance to get publish on your blog.What about the rest of the world,didn't they like your blog,you have spent hours of what you consider your valued time to make it look nice.Being a new blogger there is no wrong to be naive,you search the web to look for answers.It says you have to join forums,submit your URL to major search engine(And you thought only cars have engines!),submit your blog to blog directories and so on.Hey!You found Entrecard,BlogRush and BlogUpp too while searching.You think the hard part is to make your blog looks nice and write an article,seems that more hard work waiting for you.

The first month..You got 300++ visitors!You're on the right track to become an A-List bloggger,so have to do what an A-List blogger would do..You do contest for your readers with great prize..what should it be..PS3,Wii or XBox?But your readers have to subscribe to your blog or your newsletter to be eligible to participate.Traffic increase by double fold and you are extremely happy.Later on you learn about social media..Digg,Stumbleupon..you just have to get your article there..and amazingly somehow you manage to do it..it certainly increase traffic to your blog,this time by thousands..you have made it,all this just within 2 month of blogging.

But during the 3rd month,your subscribers starts to decrease so does traffic to your blog,and the decrease is very drastic that it worries you..what are you going to do?You can't actually write good article because you started a blog in a niche that you knew little about but you still do it because it is a popular one.You take a drastic step and wrote about what is hot at the moment,but have nothing to do with what your blog is about..it backfires,more and more of your readers leaves you..until you decided..it is time to let go..

It doesn't have to be that way..
  • Start a blog around topics that you know and you're familiar with.
  • Focus on quality content.
After having your own quality readers to your blog,you can start doing..
  • Schedule routine post.A certain day for a certain post,doing polls on certain days to get feedback from your readers,or making another day for posting questions and getting your readers to answer,compiling it and turning it into a post.
  • Write a blog series.Certain topic takes a longer post,so make it into a few series instead of making one long post.Your readers will certainly be waiting to read all about that topic.
  • Run a worth while contest,not one asking readers to subscribe to your blog,but a contest that needs involvement from your readers,even if they don't win,they still gain something by participating.
Don't let your blog have such a short life span because you don't know how to make it live longer.Having a blog and keeping it going for a long time needs patience,determination and hard work.Good luck to all of you and to me too :-)

This posting is inspired by a post in Problogger,written by Jeff from BuzzMyBlog.com