Why Bloggers Should Show Their Own Pictures On Blogs They Own

By Guardian Angel

Showing of self-picture on blogs is not really a requirement for blog owners. There are bloggers who choose not to do so, while some of them choose to have it included in the About Me section. They may have different reasons for doing such, but the following reasons are the most important ones why blog owners should show their own pictures on blog they own:

It is a validation of their ownership of the blog. This means that no one can deny that the true owner of that blog is the one who has his or her picture on it. If there will be future problems about ownership, he can easily prove that he is the real owner of the blog and its content.

Viewers can identify the blog as certified real and existing site as owned by humans and not computer generated only. A blog without the picture of the owner can be doubtful in terms of authenticity and intention. It is like an ID card without a picture.

A blog with the owner’s own picture has a greater chance of being trusted than those without. It is quite hard to trust someone you do not see and know how he looks like. Most likely, visitors will keep coming back because they know who exactly they are dealing with.

It boosts additional confidence of the blog owner. Seeing your own picture in the Internet makes you proud. Allowing millions of people around the world to look at your face needs a lot of guts, no matter how good your looks are.

One may think that security and privacy will be problem if you became popular in blogging, especially when people can recognize you wherever you go. This is the price you will pay for your success and you just have to accept them. However, you can always think of ways how to protect yourself and maintain your privacy.

Blogging is a very decent career and we should be proud of ourselves as blog owners. After all, it is the content that matters, not the face.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

I am a full-blooded Filipino, trying to contribute to make our world a better place to live in. One of my dreams is to have a place where bloggers and humans can meet. www.wherebloggersandhumansmeet.blogspot.com

How To Reply On Comments

By Guardian Angel

Comments, whether good or bad means that the reader took time to give their views on your posts. It also means that your posts have been reviewed carefully and the reader found it interesting to comment on. Therefore it is your responsibility to reply, and such replies are so important to readers. Moreover, here are some useful tips:

If the comment looks sarcastic, do not do the same. Be calm while explaining your side, and pacify him. If he continues to, then you can block his future comments. However, do not forget to thank him; he viewed your site anyway.

If the comment is out of topic or asking a non-related issue, reply still. Answer his question then lead him to a proper forum where he can get more discussions. But do not be offensive; he might just do not know where to ask.

If the comment is to correct your mistake, be humble. Say sorry and thank him for the advice he gave you instead of ignoring it. Then post a reply to correct your mistake. But you may do some research before making another mistake.

If the comment is rewarding, be enthusiastic about it. Thank him with all your heart and invite him to visit again. Reply in such a way that he will comment again, and others will be encouraged to comment too. You may also visit his site and do the same if it is worthy to give. The more good comments, the more attractive your site will be.

In any case, reply quickly. A comment deserves a reply at once. A simple Thank You is very appreciable not only for him but for other readers, too. But it is better if you add some flowers to your reply to make your readers smile a bit and a chance to be your regular visitor.

To reply on comments is a very healthy attitude. This means that you are deeply concern with your readers, and this is one of the best ways to promote yourself.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

I am a full-blooded Filipino, trying to contribute to make our world a better place to live in. One of my dreams is to have a place where bloggers and humans can meet. www.wherebloggersandhumansmeet.blogspot.com

Five Qualities Of A Successful Problogger

By Guardian Angel

Experts have been talking about high page rank, great traffic, social bookmarking sites and directories as some of the major keys to be a successful problogger. These are all true, and nobody denies that. However, to get there needs a lot of good qualities and here are some of them:

Humility: A successful problogger posts inspiring comments on other blogs rather than insulting words. He also provides time to reply on comments to his blog even just to say “thank you” and “sorry” if necessary. Visitors are glad to visit them regularly.

Originality: A successful problogger do not just copy articles from others without permission or least mentioning the originator’s name. Moreover, he uses his own words to discuss an old topic to make it fresh again. His mentors will appreciate it and will even help him to improve more.

Credibility: A successful problogger do not posts false articles, disgusting topics and blind items that might destroy personalities. He makes deep researches on each detail before sharing it. His articles can easily be approved by huge directories, thus creating great traffic to your blog.

Generosity: A successful problogger unselfishly shares his knowledge without asking for anything in return except maybe for a backlink. He engages himself in helping neophytes through responding to queries in forums and threads. He also suggests improvements even without being asked for. His name will be passed on even without his self-promotion.

Consistency: A successful problogger is consistent and firm with his ideas. He does not change his mind easily, nor give up on something he believes in just for the sake of money or popularity. His followers will do the same thing and therefore, his community will grow continually.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

I am a full-blooded Filipino, trying to contribute to make our world a better place to live in. One of my dreams is to have a place where bloggers and humans can meet. http://www.wherebloggersandhumansmeet.blogspot.com

Tips On How To Give Blogging Tips

By Guardian Angel

Giving blogging tips is a very popular type of blogging. Actually, they are selling like hotcakes and are endless. Not only that you can have a greater chance of high page rank because of the keywords, but it is also a great help to others especially to beginners. However, giving blogging tips is a responsibility and therefore you must be careful in doing so. Here are some tips you need to realize.

Be considerate. Remember that you are giving advices, especially to beginners. Imagine that you are the teacher, and the visitors are your students. Use layman’s term as much as possible. But if it is unavoidable, use hyperlink to let your visitors go to the source with a more detailed explanation of your tips.

Be humble. Although you may be an expert in giving such tips, you must not be too proud about your status. Give tips in the most pleasant way, and you will receive good comments. If the viewer feels that you are bigheaded, then he will go to other sites and will not come back to visit you again. You do not need to act like an expert; you are already an expert to the eyes of your visitors after all.

Be creative. Give tips on a very convincing way. You can use youtube or actual picture to help the viewer readily understand your tips. You can also site some simple examples. By doing this, visitors will mention your site to others as a token of thanking you and this is a very good traffic for all you know.

Be honest. If you think that your tips may not be applicable for others, say it. If there are restrictions to your tips, explain it well. Viewers are expecting that it is effective for all, where in fact you are really sure it is. Do not add or subtract any important part of the tips. If you are over exaggerated in your tips, you visitor will turn you down.

Be original. Do not just copy-paste the tips you read from other sites. Although your tips might not be that original, you can still explain it using your own words. If not, this is spamming (? – editor); or if the tips you copied has a copyright then you will get into more deep trouble.

Be the user, too. If you are giving tips that you are not using, then how can you prove that it is effective to others? Do not give tips that you did not verified and proven effective, it is just the same as telling a lie. If visitors learned that you are not using your own tips, then people will think that you are just a user, a people user.

Giving blogging tips is more advantageous to you rather than to your visitors. This is because if they will be successful someday because of your tips, they will consider you as their mentor, and it is equivalent to more than millions of traffic.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Guardian Angel is a full-blooded Filipino who is trying to contribute to make our world a better place to live in. I would also like to invite everyone to a place where bloggers and humans meet. www.wherebloggersandhumansmeet.blogspot.com

Things You Should Know Before You Blog

By Guardian Angel

Just like any activity or business, blogging needs planning and a little bit of feasibility. Here are some things I think you should know first before you blog:

Know the system. Understand how blogs work. You can start by reading blogs and analyze how most of them look like. Learn the different styles of blogs and discover what suits your taste and topic. The more blogs you read the more choices you will have. However, read only what you can understand. Do not be overwhelmed of the complicated blogs. Anyway, you could do better someday when you get familiar with the system. But you must start from the basic, just like others did. Do not worry; there are free tutorials everywhere.

Know the rules. You must know the do’s and don’ts. Do not just join in anything that you see. You might get banned for some mistake that you do not know. There are FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and HELP windows where you can use as a guide. Read carefully the Terms and Conditions in every community and forums you want to join. Remember, ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

Know your interest. If you want blogging to be a part of your life, then you must blog what interests you. It may not be a popular topic, and may sound boring to others, but what the heck! Who cares? The more important thing is that you enjoy what you are doing. Topics are endless, and the ones popular today may not be popular tomorrow. If you blog about something you do not like much, the tendency is you will quit earlier than you think.

Know someone who blogs. Though you may have a lot of references, it is easier if you know someone who blogs. It is better if you watch him blog while he teaches you and listen to him like a grade school student. He must be a friend who is patient enough and willing to spend time to teach you. Otherwise, you will have a longer time to learn and even spend some money for something that you can get for free.

Know your time. Blogging requires a lot of time. If you are busy with other activities but you want to blog, you must learn about time management. You have to sacrifice a lot of time to stay in this field. You might turn good in blogging but loose focus on other important things.

Know your health. After learning some basic about blogging through my first mentor, I asked him what to do next, and I laughed when he told me to take a lot of vitamins. Then later, I realized that I am loosing some pounds. This is because of the sleepless nights, empty stomach and whirling mind that I have been spending since I start blogging. But now, I am monitoring my health very consciously.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

I am a full-blooded Filipino who is trying to contribute to make our world a better place to live in. I also believe that bloggers and human should meet somewhere like in my site. wherebloggersandhumansmeet.blogspot.com

7 Ways to Get Your Blog Noticed

By Bob Sommers

When you start writing your first blog on a site like Blogger or any of the dozen other free blogging platforms available, your first thought will likely be, "How do I get people to notice my blog?" It is a perfectly good question and one that millions of bloggers ask themselves every day. After all, with more than 85 million active blogs online at any given time and more than 100,000 new blogs created every day, how do you stand out as worthy of attention.

There are a number of different ways you can make yourself stand out from the pack. Blogging is a unique form of expression because it allows every individual to approach it from their own angle. Combining quality writing with a handful of technical tasks that will increase your visibility, you can start reaching the millions of daily blog readers that are online every day.

Be Unique
Your angle will undoubtedly be different from almost everyone else's. Allow that unique perspective to bleed through your writing and your blog can be very successful. Even with half of the computer owning population reading blogs on a daily basis, there is only so much time to spend reading new blogs. For that reason alone, you need to stand out from the other writers in more than one way. If you write about Formula 1 racing and copy the topics from existing, larger blogs, why would anyone want to read your blog? Think of a new angle and draw in new readers with that perspective.

Consistency
You must write on a consistent basis to attract attention and keep it. It does you no good to attract a dozen new readers with one blog post and then leave them wondering where you went because you fail to write your next post for more than a week. Consistency helps in other ways as well. If you post new content on a daily basis, Google will index your site more often and you will appear higher in search rankings. Blogger lists recent posts in its own search listings which you will then appear at the top of more often. Write more often and you will be seen.

Controversial Content
This is a tricky topic, especially for some individuals. However, you can count on getting more readership and being noticed by more online outlets if you are controversial with what you have to say. This does not mean you should be rude or openly hostile. Speak your mind and say what you believe unapologetically but do not be a jerk.

Comment on Other Blogs
Everyone wants to receive comments on their posts. After you complete your first blog post, you will probably sit and stare at the comments section wondering where your first comment is; and when it arrives, you will no doubt visit the website of whoever leaves it. The same is true for your fellow bloggers. They are not your competition so much as your peers. If you read their work, they will read yours. And if they like your content, they will link to it and share it with their readers. It's an online domino effect, but you have to start the process.

Discuss Topics with Your Readers
Be engaged with your readers and you will keep them coming back for more. If a reader leaves a comment on your page, visit their blog, respond to their comment and try to think of a way to write about their site in one of your own posts. By integrating your readers into your posts, your blog becomes a collaborative effort rather than a singular endeavor. Your readers feel involved and other blog owners take notice.

Integrate New Ideas and Technologies
The more new ideas you can squeeze into your posts, the better. This means that when a new add-on or widget becomes available that suits your site, take advantage of it. Talk about new technologies, email other site owners, and use the new additions to the fullest. Blogger and most other services allow you to add on features to your blog quickly and easily. Use this feature and you will start to see increased interaction with your site by your visitors.

Take Advantage of Every Tool at Your Disposal
There are dozens of websites and directories online that list blogs like yours. These websites index topics, tags, and recent posts for searchers and visitors to sort through and can get you a fair share of high volume traffic if you use them properly. Ping your blog to the major blog directories such as Technorati and Pingoat. These services will list your blog in their directories, include your categories and tags for searching and when you sign up for an account, list your profile for readers to see. There are dozens of websites that offer these services.

To be noticed online, you need only expend the extra bit of effort necessary to gain the momentum needed for new readers and blog owner attention to shift to you. Use these methods and you can guarantee a flock of new readers coming your way.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Find dozens of sites that will promote your blog for free at TakeOnTheNet.com. Or get access to over 100 Google Blogger Videos produced by Bob Sommers and learn how to create and promote your own free blog. It's the quickest and easiest way to get a free website on the Internet

Google Adsense Tips and Tricks...

By Pat Watt

Every single website and its owner have the opportunity to make some great money by displaying Google Adsense ads on it. Although many webmasters are making a nice income with these ads, many aren't.

Many people say that all you have to do is put up a website and you'll be making over $100 a day with Google Adsense. It does sound simple and it is, but you will need to optimize your site so that you do generate more and more clicks on the ads that are sitting on your site.

The first thing that you need to do is to place the Google Adsense ads in the right spot of the page. This will determine how much money you will make each day. It is very important that you place the ad at the top of the page (above the fold) on your website in order to get the most clicks. What this really means is that you will want to place the Adsense code that Google gives you high enough on the page so that your visitors do not have to scroll down to see the Google ads. If you choose to have the ads right at the top above everything else then do that. By placing the Google Adsense ads at the top of your website above the fold, there is a greater chance that people will click on the ad, which will help your site generate a higher click through rate, also known as CTR. The reason for this is because the majority of your visitors will not scroll down the page and look at it.

A lot of the time, people look over the top part of the page without worrying about scrolling down. The way you blend the ads with the rest of your page can determine if the ad is visually appealing or not. It is very crucial to make the Google Adsense ads look like your site and not another ad. You can do this by making the font and color of the ad's text similar to the rest of the page. I also recommend that you blend the background of the ad with the background of your page. It should basically have the same color.

Google gives you the option to go into your account and customize your ads in different fonts and colors. This will help you blend the ads to your site. Make sure that you don't use the banner ads on your site because this will decrease your click through rate. People who visit your website usually try to avoid any banner and picture ads that they see. If you want to increase your click through rate, you will want to add text ads. Google gives you that option so use it.

Here are some other small tips to increase your Adsense income:

1. Google has confirmed that using the 336x280 rectangle ad block size does have the highest click through rate. Using this ad size will increase your click through rate and the income that you generate.

2. Using a blue underline for the links can also improve your click through rate. This allows the ads to actually stand out and look clickable.

If you follow the advice given above, you can improve your CTR and make more money with Google Adsense.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Pat Watt is the owner of Workbizfromhom.com. Her website is geared for people who are interested in finding an online work at home opportunity or finding the perfect home based business.

10 Things You Can Do to Get People to Comment on Your Blog

By Bob Sommers

For the blogging community, a comment is a badge of sorts. Every comment you receive represents one person that, regardless of whether they agree with your ideas or not, read your post and felt strongly enough to respond to them. Comments can make even the most jaded of bloggers feel fuzzy inside. So, how does a new blogger start turning those dozens of posts into a field of comments and discussion? It can seem hard at first, but there are a few steps you can take right away that will increase your readers' willingness to speak up.

Invite Comments
For whatever reason, if you ask your readers to leave a comment on your post, they will be immediately more willing to do so. This is just a natural response that the human brain tends to have. People are often in a hurry, or have multiple things on their mind. They might fully enjoy your post, but as soon as they are done, click to something else. If you ask them to comment, it serves as a subtle reminder that they should join in the conversation.

Open Ended Posts
Even if you are an expert on a topic, don't try to share every possible detail in one post. Be as open ended as possible and leave a few points for your readers to share. This takes a little bit of the humility mentioned below. If you can keep from throwing every fact you've ever read about a specific topic into one post, your readers will not have to think about something to say in response.

Ask Lots of Questions
The obvious way to get responses is to ask a question. If you ask your readers what they think about a topic, or for specific people to give their opinion on a lifestyle, you will get more responses. For example, if your blog is about TV shows and you ask a question such as "What shows did you enjoy in the past that are similar to The Simpsons", you will get many more comments than if you said "I enjoy old shows like All in the Family, because it is like The Simpsons". Engage your readers by addressing them directly.

Respond to Existing Comments
If someone comments, respond to it. Even if the comment is short and not particularly deep, a quick response can show that you are always paying attention and willing to engage in conversation with your readers. That commenter is now much more likely to comment again.

Setting Rules
Most blogging platforms such as Blogger do not have a built in set of rules for comments. The comments section is left open by default and you can make changes to it if you desire. Try creating a commenting policy and posting it on your page somewhere. This may seem like it would lower comments, but by describing what is allowed, readers with potential comments they might not have been willing to share initially are more likely to comment.

Show Some Humility
Don't try to know everything all the time. Be humble and show that you are aware of your own shortcomings, failings and holes in your knowledge. Don't be self-defacing, but be willing to say "I don't really know much about this, but I had a thought". The best part about blogging is that it gives readers and writers a chance to interact on an equal, real time level. If visitors want to read the opinions of those who feel they are always right, they could buy a book or pick up a newspaper.

Controversy
It's a gamble, and you can go too far, but if you want to breed new comments on your page quickly, pick a controversial topic and make a statement. This does mean you need to become political or religious. You could simply say that you disliked a popular movie. Anytime a blogger disagrees with popular opinion, comments skyrocket. Just be prepared to stand up for your opinion and to do it gracefully.

Graciousness, Admit When You Are Wrong
If you make a mistake and someone writes a comment pointing out that mistake, try to accept their comment and admit your mistake. It is very easy to become defensive and angry on the Internet where you have no personal contact with your readers. However, by showing that you graciously accept someone else's comments and opinions, you show humility and increase the likeliness of return visitors and readers.

Don't Make it Hard to Comment
Blogger has an option that allows you to require a login for the posting of comments. This is too much work. If you require a login, many people will decide against commenting altogether, especially if they need to sign up for a new account to do so. Instead of requiring login information, you can set your comments for approval before they post. This allows you to sort out comments and delete spam if necessary.

Make It Worth Their While
If you offer a reward for a good comment, you not only encourage repeat comments, you encourage better comments. Mark especially good comments with a comment of your own, or reference them in a new post. This draws attention to your readers and shows you are reading what they say.

If you want to grow your readership and comments section, the best thing you can do is to be involved and pay attention to what your readers have to say. Do these things and you will start to see your comment spaces fill up in no time.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Learn to blog with Google Blogger Tutorials. Over 100 videos available on the Internet to show you how to create and promote your blog. Add audio, video, slide shows, text, photos, credit cards and more. Best blog training on the planet.

The Difference Between Diaries, Journals & Blogs

By Javier Colayco

The words diary, journal and blog are terms often used interchangeably to mean the same thing. Most people associate a diary with a special book that is closed with a padlock to keep your thoughts and feelings private. Journals are recorded entries that are often not as private, although you may choose to keep it so. A blog is often used to publicly share your thoughts on specific topics. Blogs have become so popular that even companies are using them to update people on changes in their industry or in their company. However, each is different and unique in its own right and they can be put to different uses. You may even choose to use one, two or all three.

A diary is often the most personal of the three. They are often arranged by date and have space for you to write what has happened over the course of the day. Many diarists often think of their diaries as a special friend that they can confide to. For example, Anne Frank named her diary "Kitty." She begins her entries with "Dear Kitty" so it as though she is writing to a dear friend that she can tell all of her secrets to. The naming of a diary has a unique psychological effect as it gives the writer a feeling of someone listening to his or her inner secrets and feelings.

The word diary itself is for the Latin word diarium or "daily allowance." A diary tends to be more focused on daily thoughts and events, while a journal can be written sporadically. The "page a day" diary is popular amongst young girls and are often given as gifts. However, the diary goes back hundreds of years and one of the first most popular diaries belonged to Samuel Pepys. Pepys is known for making the diary more personal, while it had been more of a business notation in the past. Several books have been published from diaries as well. It is these diaries that have given us great insight and knowledge into history from all parts of the world.

A journal is a diary in a sense. It can be used to document life events like a diary, but it is not necessarily a daily activity. There are also several different types of journals that a person may keep. There are travel journals to document your various travels across your state, country or the world. There are workout journals that help to keep track of the type of workout you do and make comments on it.

Journals have also become popular in schools. Teachers often give students a writing prompt to get them started in their journal writing. Each week the students may write from the prompt and then share the journal with their teacher. These are excellent because they get children to think creatively and to learn to put their thoughts and feelings down on paper. This is an important step in teaching children to express themselves and communicate effectively through the written word.

A blog is another form of diary or journal, but it is one that is digital and on the Internet. These are often referred to as online diaries / journals or personal blogs. They may document your day-to-day experiences or even social commentary. Many people use personal blogs as a way to keep in touch with friends and family, as well as to share with them their thoughts and feelings on certain subjects. You may choose to keep your blog personal or to share it with the world. By sharing it with the public, you can open the blog up to personal comments from those who view and read the blog. This is unique to the blog and many personal opinions are common throughout the world of blogging, some are kind and others may be quite blunt.

One of the first online diaries or blogs was Claudio Pinhaneza's "Open Diary." This was the first web site that was published in a diary format on a web page. This site was published in 1996 by the MIT Media Lab. Since, there were several different online diaries that popped up and now the web is full of them. There have also been several websites open up since then to allow people to have their own online journals and diaries. They are especially popular with teenagers and college students.

The blog has also changed the world in terms of marketing. In 2006, Entrepreneur magazine listed it as one of the top marketing tools of the year that can get your website noticed. Website promotion is a common hurdle in marketing an online business and because blogs are easy to set-up and use, they have become a popular way of sharing information and news with the online community.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Javier Colayco is the founder of InboxJournal.com, a journaling site for keeping a private or public diary. Users can post entries directly in daily journal reminders, set reminders according to their schedule or post directly through the site.

10 Steps To Gigantic Blog Traffic

By Jeff Newman

Do you need more traffic to your blog? This article will give you practical steps that you can take today in order to increase your blog's readership.

1. Post quality, original content to your blog.

Creating original well-researched content will set your blog apart from the pack. If people look at your blog and see poor quality content, they will leave your blog and probably never come back. People are drawn to great content and unique personalities. They like blogs that are written conversationally. Write like you are writing to a friend you really want to help. Include personal life stories and testimonies. This will help people feel connected to you and add uniqueness to your blog.

2. Help your readers solve their problems.

Many people come to the Internet to solve their problems. If you answer their questions with simple step by step instructions, they will appreciate your help and re-visit your site for more useful information in the future. You can also use this strategy to promote affiliate programs. Show them how they can use the particular service or product that you are promoting with simple steps and solve their problems.

3. Write for your visitors and not for the search engines.

When people write just for the search engines they tend to include search terms that don't flow with the stream of thought of the post. If what you write doesn't make sense to your visitors they will leave. You still want to optimize your posts for the search engines, just don't overdo it.

4. Post regularly and on a schedule.

This will cause the search engine spiders to visit your site regularly. It will also cause your readers to visit you regularly, because they know that at certain times they will be able to get fresh content from your blog. They will come to depend on it. It might be a good idea to include your posting schedule on your blog. People like consistency. If you have long lapses in posting, this will cause people to stop visiting your site. You want people to know that they can count on you for high quality, fresh, original content.

5. Write for a niche within a niche.

For example, Internet marketing is the main niche and ezine creation is the niche within a niche. People are looking for high quality content on a certain niche. If you can provide great information about a niche, your visitors will know where to come for the next great post. Give your readers a great reason to come back.

6. Optimize your blog for the search engines.

Make sure your blog posts are search engine friendly. Configure your blog to display the title of the post in the URL. You can do this in the control panel of your blog software. Another strategy is to put your main keyword in the domain name of your site. It is also a good idea to put your keywords and keyword phrases into the titles of your posts. Do keyword research before each post, so you know what are good terms to include in your post title. Then, take the time to write incredible posts. This will cause other blogs and websites to link to your blog. When you get links from related sites to your blog, your blog post will receive priority in the search engines and cause your post to appear at the top of the search engine listings.

7. Re-write your posts and submit them to article directories.

Use your posts to write articles that are 300 - 1000 words long and submit these to the top article directories on the Internet. Each article contains an author box. In the author box you will be able to promote your blog. Make sure to include a link back to your website. You can also use article submission services to blast out your articles to tons of publishers that will reprint your articles. Once again it is important that you write high quality articles or they won't take the time to publish them. There are a variety of companies that will do this. Take the time to research and find out which ones will best meet your needs. You could also contact websites that are within your niche and ask them if they would like fresh content for their sites in exchange for a link back to yours. If the article is well-written and useful then they will probably say yes. You could also write exclusive articles for these sites in exchange for a link back to your site.

8. Post on forums within your niche.

Do a search for "forums" + "your niche keyword" in order to find forums that relate to your niche. Take the time to review the forum rules and get to know the main contributors to the forum. Remember, a forum is a community of people and you are going to engage in this community. Get to know who is who. A lot of forums allow you to have a signature line attached to each post that you make. In the signature you will be able to put a link to your blog. You also might want to include a link to your RSS feed. Sign up for an account and start posting. Make sure that each post is informative and contributes to the forum. People will pick up on this right away. They will know that you are an authentic contributor. Just posting your ads to forums will tarnish your reputation, unless the forum allows it. When someone reads your post and clicks on your link, you will get traffic to your blog.

9. Design a useable, eye appealing blog.

It is a worthwhile investment to host your own blog rather than using free blog hosting. It would also be a good investment to take the time to create a visually appealing blog. There are many designers who can design a custom blog for you. You also want to make sure that it is easy to navigate your blog. Don't over clutter your blog with widgets and advertising. Do some research on blog usability and apply what you are learning to your blog. The time and money that you invest in a useable and eye appealing blog will result in traffic.

10. Get one way links to your site.

Submit your blog to all the blog and RSS directories. If you don't have time to submit to all these sites, there are services you can pay to submit your site. You can also get one way links by doing a search for "Add link" "(your target market key word)" and submitting your link to those directories. One of the best ways to get one way links is to write amazing content. This will cause other blogs and websites to link to your blog. High quality posts are known as "link bait." Once you create a great post be sure and social bookmark it to all the main directories. It takes a lot of time to write quality content, but a good "link bait" piece can cause your traffic to explode.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Join Jeff Newman's Ezine and receive "Create A Website Traffic Explosion in 10 Days" and a collection of other special reports, by sending an email to mailto:ib411@aweber.com. Visit http://www.internetbusiness411.com For a membership to all of Jeff's content.

Do You Know What Corporate Blogging Is?

By Jo Han Mok

Ever wondered what blogs are all about?

Blogs are publications in the internet about the blog creator's (blogger) interest, thoughts, and opinions. Some people use blogs like a personal diary that describes their everyday lives.

A corporate blog is a type of blog that is published with the support of an organization to reach their goals, such as marketing and selling their products and services.

Businesses create a blog to strengthen relationships with important target groups and the positioning of the publishing organization as industry experts. This means that an organization creates blogs to show their knowledge about the industry they're in.

In a business perspective, corporate blogs is used as advertising, much like TV ads, print ads, audio ads, and so on. There are other reasons why corporate blogs are used; the main reason is to create stronger relations with target groups.

Reasons for corporate blogging

Place your company as the leader of the industry your company is in. Be knowledgeable about the topic.

Your forum, where your main objective is not to sell, should focus on a more personal relationship with your customers. Create a forum specially made for customer relations between your company and your customers. This is great for customers to interact with each other and you can also receive reliable feedbacks for your product.

Blogs is a great way for employees or project members to keep in touch with each other and discuss on making the project or product better. It will be like meetings, only they do it through blogs.

Remember that you should keep blogs easy to read and avoid technical terms about the topic.

Another great thing about a blog is that it is informal. People can converse just like friends and can place their opinions about the topic and express their ideas to make it better.

If you do it right, many businesses like yours will link their website to yours. They will regard you as an expert on the industry.

There are six different types of corporate blogs. Each has its characteristics and different styles.

Sales Blog

Sales blog purpose is to advertise or sell products or services. The organization itself will be writing the blog.

The target group of this type of blog is potential clients or customers and people that are directly involved with the publishing organization.

Relationship Blogs

The purpose of this blog is to create and strengthen relationship with target organizations. The target group of this blog is smaller than that of the sales blog.

Branding Blogs

The purpose of this blog is to strengthen the brand or profile of the publishing organization or the people in it. The blogger is usually the individuals in the organization and are supported by the organization. The target groups in this blog are the same as those of the relationship and sales blog.

Knowledge Blogs

The purpose of this blog is to give employees information relating to their work and also about the organizations news, business intelligence and also about the ongoing projects. The blogger is usually the organization itself or someone within the organization assigned to do the task. The target groups for this blog are all employees with a specific interest.

Collaboration Blogs

This blog is used to provide a working team with a tool for research, collaboration and discussion about ongoing projects and ideas. The blogger and target group for this blog is the team itself.

Culture Blogs

Culture blogs is used to strengthen organizational culture. Often, the content of this blog concerns social or non-work related character. This type of blog creates personal relationships between the employees no matter what their positions in the organization are.

Corporate blogging is mainly used to strengthen the relationship between customers and employees of an organization. Blogs create a sense of personal view of the products and can freely express their opinions about the product or services. It is also a great way to get employees to work more efficiently by sharing their ideas and opinions about an ongoing project.

Starting a corporate blog is fairly easy. You don't need to know about coding or buy anything, like softwares and programs. There are many free blog publishing in the internet, where you can use its services easily and free of charge. Some blog publishing websites even has blogging wizards, which will help you on a step-by-step basis when creating a blog.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com/

Jo Han Mok is the author of the #1 international business bestseller, The E-Code. He shares his amazing blueprint for creating million dollar internet businesses at: http://www.internetmillionaireblueprints.com/

Google Blogger Addons To Take Your Blog From Fit To Fab

By Bob Sommers

Blogger is a fantastic stand-alone blogging platform. But when you consider the more than 20,000 addons available from Google, it becomes outstanding.

Google and other service providers offer some of the most useful and interesting add-ons you can imagine. And the vast majority are free and simple to use. Let's take a look at how you can use them to enhance the value of your blog.

Where to find Google Blogger Addons?
The mother lode of Blogger Addons can be found on the Google Gadgets website. To find this site, go to Google and search for 'Google Gadgets For Your Webpage.' You do not want to go to 'Google Desktop Gadgets,' because you won't be able to use those gadgets on your blog. As of today, there are 22,119 gadgets available with more being added every day. Here are some of my favorites:

Fun & Games
Games and humor are two of the top reasons that visitors come back to the same blog and you can add tons of both with Google Gadgets.

Games include PacMan, Bowling, Tetris, Checkers, Hangman and virtually every other game you remember playing at the arcade. With respect to humor, you can add cartoons like Garfield, 9 to 5, SpongeBob, Bloom County and the Cartoon of the Day. Google offers dozens of gadgets to add lighthearted and comical information to your blog. Some of my favorites are Funny Cat Photos, the Bart Simpson Phrase of the Day (what does that tell you about your author?), Horoscopes and This Day In History. Your biggest problem will not be finding engaging gadgets for your blog, but knowing when to stop adding them.

News
On a more serious note, you can find gadgets that have to do with the news. These are some of the more common gadgets on both websites and blogs.

When people come to your Blogger blog they can see a gadgets that shows the local weather, breaking news, tropical storm warnings and even traffic reports in major cities. These are great gadgets to add if your blog is targeted to a local audience.

Tools
If you want to offer your visitors useful tools, you won't be disappointed with Google Gadgets. Many of my blogs are populated with these gadgets and I find myself going to them regularly.

This is a great place to find calendars, world clocks, dictionaries, driving directions and maps. You can create and add a video message to your blog with one gadget in as little as a minute. The list of useful tools you can add to your Blogger blog is amazing.

Communication and Technology
For those of you who enjoy the more technical side of the Internet, these gadgets are for you. Add a gadget that gives instant access to Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM Messenger, Hotmail and your Gmail account on your blog. You can add a Desktop Chat gadget and communicate with readers while they're visiting your blog. I've seen this tool used on some of the better customer service sites and it's great.

If you're interested in space, Google has a gadget that shows images from the Hubble telescope, NOAA satellite images, current moon phases and daily astronomy pictures. These gadgets are quickly becoming as limitless as the universe.

Lifestyle
This is big. These gadgets are the equivalent of People Magazine. This is a great place to find the top five movies at the box office, Jon Stewart's quote of the day (always funny), music, bible verses, National Geographic photos and even live TV.

Sports
I'm a sports fan. I especially enjoy baseball and NCAA football. Thank goodness there are gadgets to keep me posted on the sports world. You can add gadgets to your Blogger blog that will show the BCS standings, live sports scores, body building tips, boxing schedules and what your resting heart rate should be. There is even a gadget for you to keep track of your workout routine, assuming you have a workout routine and aren't just an armchair quarterback like me.

As you can see there are more Google Blogger addons than you can imagine and they're remarkably easy to place on your blog. Just select the gadget you want to use, copy the code generated by the gadget and add it to your Blogger blog under the HTML tab. If you would rather add the gadget to your sidebar, you can do that too and it will show up on every page of your blog. You're going to love Google Gadgets and so will your readers.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Learn more about Google Blogger Addons at Takeonthenet.com and how to add them to your Blogger blog. You can also participate in a lively discussion and learn how to blog with author, Bob Sommers at the TakeOnTheNet Blogger Forum

Create Better Blogging By Defining Your Niche

By Gregg Hall

Some bloggers will post topics that vary greatly. Other bloggers feel most comfortable when they are posting on a specific topic. The question has always been: which way is best? Studies show that defining your niche creates better blogging. So, using this discovery, it is assumed that it is best to choose one route to take, and stick with it. This can mean that you choose one broad topic and use it to create your entire blog topic list. You will likely get repeated visitors if you are posting on the same subject matter in any case. If you are still not sold however, check out these other explanations for why defining your niche can lead to more successful blogging.

Knowing the Topic

While it can be boring to post on the same topic each day, there is one thing to be said about it. You will certainly know your topic. The more you post on a topic, the more thinking and research you have to do on the topic. When you devote a lot of time to one topic, you will become more and more familiar with it. Therefore, by sticking to one topic, instead of being a "jack of all trades" writer, you will most likely become an "expert" writer on your topic. Knowing a topic well will eventually make the writing process a lot easier. When you know a lot of information on a topic, blog posts will come easy to you. You will soon get to the point where you don't have to research any longer and can simply use what you know to write. All writers will tell you that at that point it will take much less time to do your work.

Variations of Your Idea

Although you will be writing on one specific topic idea, you will be creating variations of your idea for your posts. For instance, when your niche is weddings, you can create a post on wedding gowns on one day and a post on wedding bouquets on the next day. The list of wedding topics could go on and on for months or years. There is so many variations you can think of that you can stay within your niche without changing topics altogether. This will allow each blog topic to be fresh and new each day. Brides, grooms, gowns, honeymoon site, all can be part of your blog. Even, how to choose your bridal rings will make interesting blogging. You can visit the various corners of your topic and still stick with your niche.

Creating Specific Posts

When you do go within your niche to create posts, you will be able to write specific posts that will attract a more targeted reader group. This will be great if you are relying on search engines to point people to your site. When you have specific posts that will bring in readers that are looking for topics like yours, your blog will be a success. You can bet that these readers will likely keep coming back to your blog in order to read other posts, which will be great for you as a blogger. If you are planning to ad advertising to your site, having a specific niche will help bring in more money since the ads placed on your site, will also be specific to your blogs. Choose your keywords carefully and add specific words to your blog. This will generate more traffic and can encourage more clicks on the ads placed on your site. With a program such as Google's Adsense, you can earn money with each click.

So, as you can see, defining your niche is something that you should strongly consider as a blogger. When you jump from topic to topic in your blog, you can confuse readers and never have the opportunity to establish a steady reader group that can sustain your blog. When you do have a niche that you are knowledgeable in, you will see that readers will value your information and opinion and your blog will be a hit! Go ahead and think about a topic that interests you the most. Think about different variations that you can use for more specific topic posts and try them out. You will quickly see that trying this approach can work wonderfully.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. See more articles on blogging and internet marketing at http://www.theinternetmarketingsecrets.com

7 Ways You Can Profit From Your Blog

By Bob Sommers

A blog is an incredible tool, the kind that only the second generation of Internet technology can offer. Since the technology arrived in the early 2000s that allowed blogging to become a household activity, the opportunities offered by the medium have only continued to expand.

One of the most incredible and underused opportunities present in blogging is the ability to make a profit. Of the 85 million blogs currently in circulation, only a small handful earn money for the author, yet the opportunities are everywhere to do so. After all, with millions of readers across the globe, a new businesses need only take a few simple steps to tap a potential gold mine.

Sell Advertising
When Google purchased Blogger a few years ago, the opportunities immediately made available to millions of existing and potential Blogger users multiplied tenfold. Using Google AdSense, users can quickly and easily integrate advertising into their blogs. These pay per click ads operate the same as they do on any other major website or search engine. Google targets the ads to match the content of your blog, so if you decide to devote your blog to short articles about cycling opportunities in the North Carolina area, AdSense will display ads related to cycling and North Carolina.

When a visitor reads your blog, they will see these ads alongside your article. If they choose to click on an ad, you receive a percentage of the money that Google makes from that click. The actual amount varies significantly, but if you can create a large enough reader base, you can earn hundreds of dollars each month from your advertising efforts alone.

Sell Products
What better way to make a little extra money than by selling someone else's products and earning a commission. Nearly every business on the Internet has an affiliate program of some sort. Amazon for example has an Associates program. Bloggers can sign up for Amazon's associate program and then create specialized links and images to place on their blogs. These links feature products from Amazon and when a visitor to your blog clicks on the link, you receive a commission for any sales made to that visitor within 24 hours, even items other than the one featured on your blog. If you write about film, books, electronics or any other products, sign up for an affiliate program and try to sell those products through your blog.

Donations
Bloggers with devoted readership are Internet celebrities. If you create a substantial niche for yourself and a devoted legion of fans, your blogging may begin to earn the financial accolades of those fans. While it is not a good idea to demand money in return for your daily writing, you can place a small "Donation" box somewhere on your blog. Think of it this way, if someone on the street corner plays a beautiful song on their guitar, passers by will donate spare change to their endeavor. If you can wow your readers, why not make it possible for them to do the same for you?

Sell Services
The Internet is not all products and advertising (as much as it may seem to be the case). A blog is a great opportunity to write about and promote services you may provide both online and offline. Say for example you work for a copywriting company. Your blogging is a great showcase of those talents. Even if you do not work as a writer, you can write about what you do offer, whether it is a motorcycle parts company or a floral arrangement business.

Grow an Existing Busines
For many businesses, blogging has become the next frontier of advertising and interaction with potential customers. A blog allows a business to appear both genial and spontaneous while offering an array of new information for potential customers. Whether you own a small business or work for a large one, blogging can be a great way to connect with existing and future customers alike.

Paid Blogging
Recently, there has been a growth in the industry of paid blogging. Companies such as Pay Per Post or Blogitive hire on bloggers with existing blogs and pay them a set fee for writing about a company, service, or keyword on their blog. You can sign up for a paid blogging job with your free Blogger account and make money with no investment. The general minimum for paid blog posts is $5. However, if you can raise your Page Rank by growing your search rankings and being linked to by other bloggers, you can receive as much as $100 for a paid blog post.

Merchandising
Why not make a little money with your natural creative talents? Bloggers have turned to companies like Cafe Press in recent years to create t-shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers that allow blog readers to show off the name and image of their favorite blog. When you build your loyally devoted fan base, selling a few items with your blog's name on them can be a fun way to make a little money on the side.

There are seemingly limitless opportunities for bloggers who have the inventiveness and entrepreneurial spirit necessary to take advantage of them. The best part is that in less than 15 minutes you can sign up for Blogger, create your first posts and start making money from advertising or affiliate programs.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Learn how to blog for money. Join Bob Sommers and his community of professional bloggers and discover how to convert your hobby into a business. Get all of your burning blogging questions answered in the blogger support, blogger help forum.

Mistakes that Can Bury a Blog

By Gregg Hall

Too often bloggers complain that after a great start, a year later their blog is as dead as can be. This is a common problem that almost always revolves around a small list of common mistakes made by the blogger. A blogger can sit back and expect the blog to do all of the work for him or her, which is a terrible way to approach blogging.

A successful blogger would tell you that great blogging takes a certain amount of dedication and hard effort to make it work. You have to put effort into a blog to sustain it, especially after the first month or so of completing the design. Many people work so hard during the initial design phase that they get lazy after it is complete. To avoid this happening to your blog, check out these five common mistakes that can bury a blog.

Infrequent Updates

One of the biggest mistakes a blogger can make is to "forget" about posting. The most successful blogs are updated with new posts at least once a day. Some larger blogs are constantly being updated. You should try to create new posts as often as possible. If you miss a day here and there, it will be no big deal. However, if you miss a week or more without posting, you might as well consider the blog dead already. You have to take a few moments, even as few as five, a day to create interesting posts or content. If you are writing short and concise posts like you should be, this should not be that challenging. It is easy to keep your blog updated, if you make it a priority.

Too Much Advertising

Most bloggers today do want to make a profit from their blog. This is a trend that can get out of control quickly however. If you are interested in adding ads to your blog, do so with caution. There is nothing wrong with a few appropriately places ads that offer viewers links to places that correlate with your blog's content. However, adding a massive amount of advertisements on your blog is a mistake. If you have a bunch of flashy ads on your blog, your content will get lost within the hoopla. Therefore, you should always limit your ads to three or less per page. Make sure you place them in appropriate places that let your content shine through. Don't allow enormous ads to fill up your pages either. They will simply annoy readers. Be smart about including advertising on your blog!

Unprofessional Look

Looks do matter when it comes to your blog. The more professional and crisp your blog looks, the more your readers will take you seriously. If you are interesting in boosting traffic, you should try a more serious layout or presentation for your blog. If you can afford to hire a professional, you should. If you choose to do it yourself however, you must make sure the end product is good. If you have a sloppy blog that looks "homemade" you will not likely have a great response. Try different layouts and approaches to see what gets you the most traffic.

Graphics Overload

Pictures can add a ton to your blog and draw in more readers. However, when done excessively, much like ads, pictures can drive people away. The main reason too many pictures can ruin a blog is because there are many web surfers who still use slow internet connections. When they try to load your page, it will take an excessively long time to do so. This in turn will likely drive them and anyone else with this problem away. Try limiting to a few pictures per page.

Inappropriate Content

Everyone knows that the web is a place where you can freely express yourself. However, if you want your blog to survive, you might want to think about that freedom of expression. Although you should always say what you feel, you can do so in appropriate manners on your blog. There are ways to say anything on your mind, without using profanity or any offensive lingo. If you want your blog to be successful, you cannot be inappropriate with your content.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com/

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. See more articles on blogging and internet marketing at http://www.theinternetmarketingsecrets.com/

What Are The Major Differences Between Web 1.0 And Web 2.0?

By Article Specialist

You witnessed, were a victim of, or have at least heard about the bursting of the dot com bubble in the fall of 2001. Fortunes that had been made overnight were lost overnight.

The sky was falling. It was a very scary time for a lot of people. Some said that the World Wide Web was just a flash-in-the-pan idea that had been over-hyped and that the crash was irrefutable proof of that fact.

There were, however, some survivors of the 2001 dot com bust. The survivors had a few important commonalities and there were those who insisted that the World Wide Web was more important than ever and had a very bright future indeed.

One of those who saw the results of the 2001 dot com bust as a ‘glass half full’ rather than a ‘glass half empty’ was a man by the name of Tim O’Reilly. O’Reilly (of O’Reilly Media) met with Dale Dougherty of Media Live International in 2004. Out of that meeting the term ‘Web 2.0’ was born.

The definition that Tim O’Reilly gives for Web 2.0 is: "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.

Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them."

Web 2.0 can be viewed as an upgrade to the World Wide Web. It is still the web but it is a new and improved version of the web.

New technologies such as blogs, social bookmarking, wikis, podcasts and RSS feeds are just a few of the technologies that are helping to shape and direct Web 2.0.

The Web before the dot com crash is often referred to as Web 1.0 now but only since the coining of the term Web 2.0.

Some of the more obvious differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are: DoubleClick replaced by Google AdSense, Britannica Online replaced by Wikipedia, Personal Web Pages replaced by Blogs, Content Management Systems replaced by Wikis and Directories replaced by Tagging.

These are only a very few of the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 but they are major ones.

You will notice, if you look carefully that the commonality of many of the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is that Web 1.0 was driven and controlled by the ‘powers-that-be’ and Web 2.0 is driven by users.

That is a huge difference and the one that is making Web 2.0 more and more user friendly not to mention more and more profitable for just average people. You might even call it a power shift of seismic proportions.

Once the websites that could be accessed on the Internet were built and controlled by only a few and were certainly not ‘interactive’ but today anybody with an idea, a few dollars and just a little know-how can build a Web 2.0 website that is completely interactive and turn it into a money-making enterprise if they choose to.

The technology is there. It is easy to use. It is accessible and it is relatively cheap… some of it is even free.

Many websites that started out as static websites are now adding features like blogs and forums and propelling themselves into the future of Internet commerce. Those websites who continue be ‘old hat’ are falling further and further behind.

Just regular people now expect to be able to ask questions and get answers from websites and they expect websites to be at least somewhat interactive. The Internet has always been and still is a platform for information, but with Web 2.0 has also become a platform for participation.

Related Article:
What is Web 2.0?

The Importance of Blog Comments In Search Engine Optimization

By Scott White

Blog comments can help with the search engine optimization of your website by seriously improving your ranking within the major search engines. Where sometimes webmasters running traditional websites complain about being in the Google Sandbox for months, bloggers often report seeing their results in search engine results just a few days after they activate their blogs and start posting entries. Furthermore, blog software programs such as WordPress and Blogger have the reputation as being search engine magnets that cause quick indexing by search engines.

Many webmasters have also become bloggers to make the most out of this windfall of rapid indexing by search engines. They say that starting a blog, optimizing posts for keywords, and linking it heavily to their website can get things moving much more quickly in having their website indexed, and getting it out of Google's sandbox.

It is not only blog posts which rank quickly in search engine results, you will also notice that when you do a search, and you click on the results, often the results are not articles or posts as you would expect, but comments. Blog comments and forum comments are often featured highly in search results.

To understand blog comments and the part they play in search engine optimization, we will first look briefly at SEO for blogs and what makes blogs search engine friendly.

You can set up your blog, so that whenever you write a new post or update an old one the search engines and associated services are automatically pinged. This lets them know you have new content. Hopefully, these notifications will result in more traffic and more blog comments. Search engines favor and look for fresh content. Especially well optimized content, including niche specific and relevant anchor text. The very nature of blogs, with their chronological posting structure, promotes regular, fresh content. Some bloggers even post a number of times each day. Even plug-ins and widgets like Twitter add fresh content.

The good news about blog comments is that the search engines see them as content, and most of it, you did not even have to write yourself. Other people are writing your content for you. Visitors add a blog comment, the blog owner replies, someone else chimes in and soon you have a conversation developing. It is not unusual to see some blogs with twenty or more comments, if the discussion is really sparking.

Even a new blogger will soon attract comments, especially if they are proactive in commenting on other blogs. They also need to link out to related websites and blogs, and start to network. If they let other bloggers know they exist, and begin to attract traffic, it will not be long before they attract blog comments.

Now here is the SEO bonus of the whole blog comment deal: because your readers are commenting on your post, it is quite likely that a lot of the content of the comments are going to reflect your keywords or at least your topic. Your comments in reply can be search engine optimized and keyword rich, where appropriate.

Like your posts, make sure it is still natural language, because your main aim is to keep the conversation going. You want to keep your readers engaged and interested. They are more likely to come back if your website offers value and a sense of community. Remember that your fellow bloggers are SEO savvy too, and can spot people who are gaming the system from a mile away. Do not compromise authenticity for search engine optimization. It is not worth it.

Some bloggers have taken blog comments a step further with regular open microphone or cafe style nights. Everyone comes and has something of a virtual party or discussion in the comments section. Be innovative. Work out ways to leverage the potential of your blog comments so that your website is the ultimate beneficiary of the search engine optimizing power of blog comments.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Scott White has the top SEO Program and Arizona Home Loan, Healthy Cooking Videos

Exclusive: ProBlogging 101

By Jo Han Mok

A weblog (or simply blog) is a website that 'publishes' or features articles (which are called 'blog posts', 'posts', or 'entries'), written by an individual or a group that make use of any or a combination of the following:

- Straight texts
- Photographs or images (photoblog)
- Video (videoblog)
- Audio files (audioblog)
- Hyperlinks

Usually presented and arranged in reverse chronological order, blogs are essentially used for the following purposes:

- Online journal or a web diary
- Content managament system
- Online publishing platform

A typical blog has the following components:

- Post date - the date and time of the blog entry

- Category - the category that the blog belongs to

- Title - the title of the blog

- Main body - the main content of the blog

- RSS and trackback - links the blog back from other sites

- Comments - commentaries that are added by readers

- Permalinks - the URL of the full article

- Other optional items - calendar, archives, blogrolls, and add-ons or plug-ins

A blog can also have a footer, usually found at the bottom of the blog, that shows the post date, the author, the category, and the 'stats' (the number of comments or trackbacks).

There are numerous types of blogs. Some of them are the following:

1. Political blog - on news, politics, activism, and other issue based blogs (such as campaigning).

2. Personal blog - also known as online diary that may include an individual's day-to-day experience, complaints, poems, and illicit thoughts, and communications between friends.

3. Topical blog - with focus either on a particular niche (function or position) that is usually technical in nature or a local information.

4. Health blog - on specific health issues. Medical blog is a major category of health blog that features medical news from health care professionals and/or actual patient cases.

5. Literary blog - also known as litblog.

6. Travel blog - with focus on a traveler's stories on a particular journey.

7. Research blog - on academic issues such as research notes.

8. Legal blog - on law (technical areas) and legal affairs; also known as 'blawgs'.

9. Media blog - focus on falsehoods or inconsistencies in mass media; usually exclusive for a newspaper or a television network.

10. Religious blog - on religious topics.

11. Educational blog - on educational applications, usually written by students and teachers.

12. Collaborative or collective blog - a specific topic written by a group of people.

13. Directory blog - contains a collection of numerous web sites.

14. Business blog - used by entrepreneurs and corporate employees to promote their businesses or talk about their work.

15. Personification blog - focus on non-human being or objects (such as dogs).

16. Spam blogs - used for promoting affiliated websites; also known as 'splogs'.

Blogging is typically done on a regular (almost daily) basis. The term "blogging" refers to the act of authoring, maintaining, or adding an article to an existing blog, while the term "blogger" refers to a person or a group who keeps a blog.

Today, more than 3 million blogs can be found in the Internet. This figure is continuously growing, as the availability of various blog software, tools, and other applications make it easier for just about anyone to update or maintain the blog (even those with little or no technical background). Because of this trend, bloggers can now be categorized into 4 main types:

- Personal bloggers - people who focus on a diary or on any topic that an individual feels strongly about.

- Business bloggers - people who focus on promoting products and services.

- Organizational bloggers - people who focus on internal or external communication in an organization or a community.

- Professional bloggers - people who are hired or paid to do blogging.

Problogging (professional blogging) refers to blogging for a profit. Probloggers (professional bloggers) are people who make money from blogging (as an individual blog publisher or a hired blogger).

Below are just some of the many money-making opportunities for probloggers:

- Advertising programs
- RSS advertising
- Sponsorship
- Affiliate Programs
- Digital assets
- Blog network writing gigs
- Business blog writing gigs
- Non blogging writing gigs
- Donations
- Flipping blogs
- Merchandising
- Consulting and speaking

The following are a few things that you need to consider if you want to be successful in problogging:

1. Be patient. Problogging requires a lot of time and effort, not to mention a long-term vision.

2. Know your audience. Targeting a specific audience or group is a key to building a readership.

3. Be an 'expert'. Focus on a specific niche topic and strive to be the "go-to" blogger on that topic.

4. Diversify. Experiment with various add and affiliate programs that enable you to make money online (aside from blogging).

5. Do not bore your readers. Focus on the layout. White spaces, line spacings, and bigger fonts make a blog welcoming to read.

Certainly, it is possible to earn money from blogs. One just needs to take risks, the passion, and the right attitude in order to be a successful problogger.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Jo Han Mok is the author of the #1 international business bestseller, The E-Code. He shares his amazing blueprint for creating million dollar internet businesses at: http://www.internetmillionaireblueprints.com

Blogging 101: 6 Reasons Why a Blog Can Benefit Your Online Business

By Mark Williams

Blogs have taken over the internet!

Everyone is blogging from politicos to teeny-boppers. Many teenagers have resorted to blogging as an outlet for their emotions, a little online nook where they can blurt out their feelings and blow off some steam. However, savvy marketers have discovered that blogging is one of the best Internet marketing strategies available. The best part is that blogging is just a cent or two more expensive than free.

So what exactly is blogging? Blog is just a fancy name for web log and really it is nothing more than an online journal. A blog can be set up for very little cost and it makes a very viable internet marketing tool.

Blogging for your online business is a proven way to enhance the visibility of your business products and services. Below are 6 proven methods for using a blog to jumpstart your online business and start cranking out the cash.

1. Building trust with your customers is key to any successful business. A blog is a great way to get information about your business out to your clientele. Keep your customers abreast on your business and any changes to your web site. Announce your new product line and affiliate programs with the use of your new blog.

2. Your blog is a great way to keep all of your articles and business information. Quality information makes for the best web sites, so put up all of those old articles and anything else you have lying around that makes good content. The content on your blog can be easily stored through archives.

3. As a business owner in your chosen niche you would probably be considered an expert, right? Well since you're an expert don't be afraid to give your advice and opinion. Blogging provides you a great opportunity to give product reviews on items that might help your customers. You could make some extra cash by endorsing quality products unique to your niche. Whatever your niche is I'm sure that there are products you can sell to earn affiliate commissions.

4. By posting your articles on your blog you can allow people to republish them as long as they include your resource box. We all know what is included in your resource box, that's right it is a link to your web site! Before you know it we will start acquiring back links like crazy. As stated in the previous section you can use articles with affiliate links to start cashing in with your blog.

5. Use your blog as a way to gather information from your customers. Have them fill out surveys on how you can improve your product(s). It makes them feel involved and builds trust. Getting the input of others, especially people that have purchased from you is always a good thing. Even if you don't like the answers! A blog is a great way to get instant feedback from your customers and that is a very valuable tool.

6. Submit your blog to blogging lists and syndicate it so that it becomes a viral marketing machine. When you have a blog that stands out in your niche people will be walking over each other for every new post you make. By syndicating your blog you give notice to all interested parties every time you make a post!

Setting up a blog is easy, you can either purchase blogging software or use a blogging hosting service to do it for you. LiveJournal and Blogger.com are the most popular hosting companies in the blogging arena right now. They are easy to set up and the hosting companies provide you with easy to follow instructions on how to start your new blog.

Take these 6 tips and put them to use in your evolving online marketing arsenal, you will be glad you did.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Blogging is a great way to enhance your internet marketing efforts. Mark Williams has other terrific tips and Internet Marketing Strategies to help your marketing efforts.

The Power Of Blogging

By: Daniel Trainor

Blogging has become extremely popular in today's virtual world. Blog is short for weblog, a word which was thought up by John Barger in 1997. Peter Merholz used the word weblog in his website later popularizing it further. Weblog is a combination of the words web and log which basically means noting or writing down entries in a sequential order. Now, the word blog has become a common word worldwide and is used in casual conversation all the time.

What are blogs? Blogs are often more personal in nature than most websites. A blog can be a personal journal which recounts events in a person's life on a daily basis. It can focus on specific topics that interest the blogger such as movies, food, music, sports, politics, news or business. Blogs can be composed of text entries, music, videos, photos and images as well as hyperlinks that lead to other blogs and web pages. The person who writes these entries is called a blogger.

Blogs usually include a way of interacting with the blogger, which generally means leaving comments about what you think of his/her blog. You can agree or disagree with the blog entries and you are free to express yourself in the comment box provided. Blogs are symbols of freedom of expression, and the blogger is open to both positive and negative criticism. If there is a particular blog you come across and like reading, you can bookmark it and come back to it regularly to see what else is posted on it.

Blogs are platforms through which people can champion a pet cause, share information, be part of a group which supports similar issues, and businesses can even use blogs to attract consumers and make money. Companies pay bloggers to write flattering reviews of their products, or pay them by posting banners or text ads on the blogs which connect to the company's website.

There are many websites which have ready-made templates for would be bloggers to design their blogs, such as Blogger, DreamHost, Xanga, Wordpress, and LiveJournal to name a few. These sites enable bloggers to post entries and upload media files more easily. These blog communities contain links which connect blogs to each other, so that people can find blogs of similar topics easily.

Blogs are becoming a very powerful tool for online businesses and it can give your business the opportunity to be found by millions of people all around the world. Since blogs are very search engine friendly, you have a better chance of getting ranked high on the major search engines compared to a regular website. Search engines love frequently updated quality content and a blog is the easiest way to do this as they are very user friendly. No knowledge of web design or HTML code is needed.

So go start a blog today and watch your online business grow.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Dr. Daniel Trainor is an established internet marketer and mentor. To find out how Dr. Trainor can help you make money online go to Wealth Magnet

How to Create a Viral Blog

By: Glen Hopkins

If you're ready to enter the world of blogging, you have lots of options available to you. One is Blogger. Blogger is a simple and easy way to get started for free. It's a service provided by Google and geared toward beginners. This is a good option if you are new to the world of blogging.

Wordpress is also free and extremely flexible. It builds your entire site for you, allows you to use or modify existing designs and lets you create as many categories as you choose. It also integrates RSS (more on this in a moment) into your site automatically.

Another option is Movable Type. This publishing system is the most popular business publishing platform and has many features a system such as Blogger lacks. This is a more professional program and is a paid service.

Typepad is an alternative paid blogging service. They host many of the world's most popular blogs and are easy to use.

It doesn't matter which service you choose. The important thing is to pick one and get a blog started as soon as possible. But unless your blog posts contain a combination of certain components, you can not and should not expect it to become a viral blog.

People simply won't talk about blogs that bore them, so you must give people something to talk about. You do that by keeping these five things in mind when writing your blog posts:

--Candor: be blunt, bold and truthful. Say exactly what you mean without trying to "beat around the bush." When you're honest and straightforward, people know exactly what to expect from you. They may not always agree, but they will respect you for your frankness.

--Urgency: be in demand NOW. Create a sense of urgency within your posts by being the first to break a news story within your niche, introduce a new product or interview an expert. Give people a reason to visit your blog immediately.

--Timeliness: be relevant. Keep up with the news of the day in the world, in your area and especially in your niche. Know the current trends and use your posts to enter the conversations people are already having. No one wants to read an outdated blog.

--Concise: be brief and to the point. Your readers don't have time to scroll through pages and pages of content. They're in a hurry AND have lots of other sites to choose from. But if you can save them time by getting straight to your point within a few paragraphs, they'll keep coming to you for information.

--Controversy: be different. Challenge the status quo. Talk about issues others in your niche are afraid to discuss. The best way to generate traffic is to stir people's emotions, especially when those emotions are anger and fear.

If your blog posts contain at least four of these five components, you are creating the right kind of content that has the power to attract massive traffic to your website.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Glen Hopkins specializes in teaching struggling entrepreneurs how to turn their small Online businesses into thriving money machines all while working less and earning more. To get more information, including Free Reports, Videos and CDs, visit: www.GlenHopkins.name

4 Great Blogging Tips For The Freelancer

By: Jo Han Mok

Blogging is one of the best ways to start a Freelancer business because it is so easy to get going. However, that does not mean that it is easy to make money from your blog. Don't start a blog and expect to see money rolling in immediately.

Blogging is an activity that will take time to build up to a profit level. It's a good thing to start while you are working on other Freelancer opportunities to let it build to a profitability level. With time and attention, your blog (or blogs) will grow into a business.

When you are blogging for profit, you'll want to pay close attention to how you present yourself in your blog. There are literally hundreds of thousands of blogs out there, and there may be several hundred blogs that are related to your topic. If your readers can't understand your blog and have trouble reading it, they'll just move on to the next one. The following tips can make your blog more user-friendly and help you gain consistent readers.

1. First, pay close attention to the format of your blog. Readers want to understand how your blog works right from the start. Most blogging platforms have similar formats, with links and tags on the left or right margin, and the most recent post on top. Make sure to use the links wisely. Only put links up for blogs or content that is truly related to your blog's topic. The point is to give your readers additional information on your topic. Keep the list short and sweet. There is no reason to overwhelm them with links to other sites.

2. Also, take careful consideration when choosing your blog's background and font color. Although there are a lot of color choices that blogging programs offer, its best to stick with a light background and dark text. Studies have shown that the human brain can process this type of format better than light text on a dark background. Think about this before you commit to a black background and white text. It might look striking, but readers might not want to stay there for long. Also, use a solid background color instead of trying to use a pattern or design.

3. Proofread your entries before you post them to your blog. There is nothing that reduces your authority in the eyes of your readers more than bad spelling and grammar. The online world is a world of text, so take some time to learn commonly misspelled words and grammatical errors.

4. Keep your blog fresh and interesting by posting at least once per day. With so much information available on the Internet, your readers may go elsewhere if you aren't supplying daily content. If you aren't sure what to write about, try posting a poll, a link to another blog, comment on a news story or post a list of helpful tips. Not every post has to be long and complicated, but you do need to post something everyday.

These tips will help keep your blog readable and interesting to your visitors. The more visitors you get, the more your blog will grow in profitability and importance. Just make sure to present yourself in a professional way and keep your readers coming back for more new content each day. In no time, you'll have a profitable blog and then you can move on to create two or three.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Jo Han Mok is the author of the #1 international business bestseller, The E-Code. He shares his amazing blueprint for creating million dollar internet businesses at: www.InternetMillionaireBlueprints.com

Six Easy Steps to Making Money with Your Blog

By: Don James

I'm going to give you 6 quick pointers on how to optimize your blog to drive traffic and hopefully earn some extra Adsense and affiliate income.

One huge benefit of using blogging as a means to create your site vs. trying to build your own is the ability to monetize your content immediately and not have to worry about page layout, graphics, hosting, domain names, and content management. This is a massive time saver when using the free bloggers such as Blogger or Wordpress hosting. The downside is that you cannot fully control the fine tuning of your site for specific optimizations. Nevertheless, you must let go of this desire and focus on your content - which is a very good thing.

So, let's start with the key topics you need to consider when optimizing a blog:

1. The Blogging Service
2. Layout
3. Links
4. Keywords
5. Traffic
6. Site Tricks

1. The Blogging Service - this is a very important choice because some of the free blogging services do not allow you to place context ad such as AdSense on the free blogging service (they allow it if you host your own blog). Because of this I strongly recommend using Blogger as your free service since it is easy to use and is ad friendly.

2. Layout - since you are using a free service you must get over the desire to control your site. Let go! Most free blogging sites allow you to tweak the layout somewhat. There are some tricks you can use to easily keep your site a blog but at the same time add sections as if you were on your own site. For example, keep one blog entry for all of your favorite external links and descriptions. This is where you can continue your link sharing with other sites and continually add new ones. Now, add a specific link to this article on the sidebar so that there is a direct reference when the article gets archived. That way any readers will always find the article links and not have to search or stumble upon it. (Note, you can use this same technique for additional pages that refer to specific topics so that you have a directory of topics on your sidebars).

3. Links - besides the links I noted in #2 you should always use plenty of linking from within every article you publish. The internet values links and the more you use from your blog entries the better. Other sites pay attention to who's linking to them and when they see a referral in their logs your appreciation level increases. Also, add your favorite affiliate and topic links to your sidebars.

4. Keywords - I cannot stress the importance of this but I'm not going to go into detail on keyword identification other than to say that each blog entry should focus on a SEO keyword phrase or name - especially the title. Be sure to use your titles carefully and use the same keywords in your entry. This will mark the blog entry to the keyword topic (remember, each blog entry is a separate web page that can be indexed). Also, be sure to include the keyword near the end of the blog entry as well.

5. Traffic - don't forget to promote your blog to drive traffic! Use all the means possible to do this - forums, articles, reprint rights, etc. Be sure to post well written comments on other highly ranked blog sites. However, don't make the mistake and write only a quick comment. Always write your responses in a way that is interesting and direct to the point. There's enough free material out there to do this!

6. Site Tricks - another simple technique is to place hard coded links to your favorite blog entries and articles in the bottom of the Blog template. That way it will show up on every page. Eventually you can make this your site map which is very important to the search engines. The last thing you want is your blog links to be archived!!

And, of course, don't forget to add your AdSense sections.

Just by completing these 6 simple tasks you can get your blog monetized in no time at all!

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Don James is an internet developer and online marketer. Discover a easy way to make your sites or blogs profitable with Honest Riches at Holly Mann - Smart Woman vs. Rich Jerk