My fellow writers at the Absolute Writers Forum (known lovingly as the AW Water Cooler or just Cooler) are the reason for these next series of articles so I wish to thank them.

In the next few series of articles, I will try and deal with some of the very basic technical jargon and skills that one needs when facing this daunting world of web-site creation, blogging and getting listed and noticed by the Search Engines. Some of this I take from things I posted at AW and others from my own articles on Web Creation and still others from my own blog, Cobwebs Of The Mind (see resource for URL).

Let us start with the few important factors that are required today on the web. There are quadrillions of articles on this, most very poorly written, but the message is always the same.

On the web today, “content is king”. But that is not all their is to that rule. Let us change it a bit to fit the reality of the web, search engines, and the sophisticated algorithms being deployed by the search engine trinity of: Google, Yahoo & MSN.

“Content is King, but Original Content is the King of Kings.”

Okay – that is the first cardinal rule you MUST understand about the web today. Now what does this mean?

There are essentially three factors in this equation:

1. You must have content – words, phrases, information – on your web site.

2. You should have “original” content on your web site. This is content which either you have created or have gotten permission to reproduce on your web site. It should be “original”. Copying content from a web site, and putting it in your blog, where that content has been reproduced in thousands of other web-sites, is not going to help your Google ranking (and you may even be penalized for it.) This does NOT mean that everything, every single phrase and post and article you put up on the web has to be original and not repeated elsewhere. What it does mean though, is that the majority of your web site or blog should be just that – YOURS.

3. Your content should constantly grow. You should be adding to it on a daily or bi-daily basis. Stagnant blogs and web sites are noticed for being stagnant – dead. They drop so fast in Search Engine (search engine) rankings you have no clue! Web sites demand nurturing and work. They do NOT run on auto mode. (Just look at how much time you spend with your blog!)

Now as to why and how.

Search Engines look for content. They have developed very sophisticated algorithms to check content. To see if this content is original, or they are coming across the millionth time they have seen the same thing. This is all mathematical btw. And this is NOT the only thing they look that. (We will get to those other things in our next posts). However, Content is critical. Lets give two examples.

1. Ever notice how fast some popular Forums get indexed in the Search Engines. This is due to the fact that they have an incredible amount of page hits, and that they exist for POSTS. Posts on forums are ORIGINAL for the most part. So engines look for the Content, forums have this, they list them, they see original content – the forum moves up the list, and thus more people find the forum in the search, more people hit the forum pages, more “hits” and “eyeballs” are registered back on the Search Engine servers, and the forum keeps on moving up. The more hits – by mathematics – the more posts. The more posts the more original content. The more original content the better the listing. The better the listing – the more people find the forum. Getting the picture? A never-ending circle of success.

2. For those of you in doubt as to whether Search Engines can “read” content just take a look at Adsense and Adwords. When you go to a site with them, adverts are fed out based upon the: 1: Content of the page you are on, and 2) Your IP address to determine which country and language you speak. Since I am in Israel, I am never surprised if I hit a site say that is discussing a topic and has adsense, and though this site is totally in English and geared to people in New York City, some of the adsense adverts are in Hebrew based upon the content of the page I am on. The algorithm finds key words (more on those later) and feeds out the adverts.

So our first lesson on Search Engines and ranking and all that good stuff is about Content. Remember the rule.

Copyright 2006 Ted W. Gross. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author’s information with live links only.) Ted W. Gross’s very popular blog, Cobwebs Of The Mind contains daily updated posts and articles on technology and writing. He also owns Amor Enterprises which maintains Virgin Earth Article Submissions which is designed to accept articles about any country or place in the world. Ted Gross is also a published author and maintains a web site for his works.

Blogging makes Real Estate Brokerage a Whole New Ball Game

“Blogs are telling it like it is at the street level,” said Brad Inman of Inman News, a big real-estate news group. Inman said real-estate blogging began in the Bay vicinity, took hold in New York and has now dispersed across the country.

For instance, blog posters might expose flaws at new developments or buildings like roof leaks or heat inadequacies or tawdry craftsmanship or upkeep. They might warn buyers away from dishonest or incompetent agents or overpriced modern housing. They can permit buyers know that a neighborhood can not be secure, that an vicinity floods every spring, or that jets aviate directly overhead when the west wind blows.

It is not all negative. “Comments on our posts often talk about how great a neighborhood is or praise brokers or landlords,” said Jake Dobkin, publisher of Gothamist.com which has sites covering 15 cities.

Blogs also support even the playing field for consumers. Usually, just professionals could get full access to like price levels and property circumstances. “Blogs add information — they level the playing field for consumers,” said Dobkin.

Making sure you have your ear to the ground is key.

Alexis Palmer, operations head for Curbed.com, which covers New York and Los Angeles, states the strong suit of these sites is that they tell people extra about the areas they might be deliberating moving into. “You can find out about the neighborhood’s character,” she said, “what kinds of restaurants, stores, and clubs are there.”

The info is told by people like you. “Normally, in real estate, most of the information available comes from those representing the sale of properties,” said Palmer. “They have a different agenda than the consumer.”

Although on numerous blogs anyone can publish and there is trivial fact controlling or exams for truth, that does not entail the information is too untrustworthy. “You get a robust corrections from the community of readers,” said Palmer.

It is not only local real-estate or locality circumstances that the bloggosphere plays up. Some, such as real-estate research supplier Jonathan Miller’s Matrix.millersamuel.com undertake different national issues.

“I come across information every day about the industry and my blog site is an opportunity to get my take out there,” said Miller, that puts up uncomplicated advice and information for buyers on messages like how real-estate deals are made up, alterations in government backed motgage programs, and the course of mortgage costs.

According to Inman, agents, across Web sites like Realtor.com, offer quantitative information about houses – square footage, amount of rooms, etc – but do not explain what the household is actaully worth. bloggers can aid fill that niche with quality based information. He points out a property description can appear on a blog and be promptly backed up or reviewed by posters.

People who know suppose that blog sites empower purchasers, enabling them to produce more skillful picks, receive services at a better value, and locate more effective brokers and additional service providers. It can even assist them cut in to that average six point broker commission when they sell a property, According to Dobkin, by affording them the information and assurance to carve out more enhanced trades.

Visit one of the most articulate and fact filled resources real estate blog resources on the web.

SEO Solutions and one way link publicity services provided by LinkAcquire.

David C Skul – CEO LinkAcquire.com and Relativity, Inc. can provides global market exposure and solutions.

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Blogs have become very successful and popular lately, and SEO consultants say that they can be very profitable if they are managed and marketed the right way. Generating profits from a blog doesn’t require selling anything. Profits can be from ad placements, banners, or contextual advertising. The best blogs draw the attention of a large audience and keep them coming back for more.

There are many types of blogs available. The most common types are:

- Professional blogs: These blogs are focused on discussions about professions, job aspects and career building

- Personal blogs: These blogs take the form of an online diary and contains thoughts, poems, experiences, and other personal matters

- Topical blogs: These blogs focus on a certain topic or niche, discussing specific aspects of the chosen subject

- Business blogs: As its name suggests, these are discussions about business and/or stock market

Other types of blogs include but are not limited to science blogs, cultural blogs, educational blogs, and photo blogs.

In order to have a successful blog that attracts a lot of visitors and keep them coming back, you need to follow some simple rules. Here are some tips from SEO consultants:

Before you begin blogging, carefully consider what you are going to write about in your blog as there are lots of interesting topics out there, waiting to be discussed. You can find them in every day life, in the media, in the news – anything that attracts attention and a loyal following is good. You can look for blog subjects in many places, the most important being the Internet of course.

Put quality content in your blog. If you have quality content people like to read, they will return to your blog and tell other people about it as well. Posting articles containing useful information on your blog is very beneficial for attracting more traffic. Make sure you add your URL address below your posted article! If other web site owners find your articles useful and decide to include them within the content of their web pages, the added link will contribute to increasing your popularity every time it is hyperlinked.

Update the blog on a regular basis. If you don’t do this, visitors will not return and they will move on to reading another blog that is updated more often. You should try to update your blog daily. Many newcomers have blogging fear, fearing their inability to update it daily. If your blog is interesting enough, offer your readers the ability to keep it updated by posting their own personal thoughts and share stories so you won’t have to do all the updating work yourself.

Listen to what your readers have to say. Always pay attention to the readers’ suggestions and try to find out what people were actually searching for when they found your blog. Try to focus on that theme and even consider developing it by encouraging the visitors to discuss new aspects of that particular theme.

Keep it short and concise – You don’t need material that takes hours to read, people usually like to quickly skim a blog for quick tidbits of useful information and if you post materials that are difficult or take a long time to read, you will most likely drive them away.

You can also include some artistic work or pictures in the blog, to make it more visually appealing. Blog picture managers such as Picasa are freely available on the Internet to accomplish this.

If your blog has interesting, original content, bloggers might decide to add links to it on their web sites and comment on your suggested topic. By gaining back-links to your blog from other web sites, your web site will place higher within search engine queries, thus boosting your link popularity.

Announce the launch of any new blog with press releases. Free publicity through press releases are powerful tools for increasing incoming traffic. Search engines love press releases and it gives them a good reason to spider and to index your site quickly.

Include free downloadable viral reports on your blog to turbo-charge visitor traffic and build a subscriber/viewer base quickly.

In order to simplify the creating and updating process of a blog, take advantage of the many blogging tools and software readily available, a number of them are free. Blogging software such as WordPress or Movable Type helps you update a blog easily. There are even free blog generators such as Blogger which allow you to host your content on Google’s servers without having to install any software or obtain a domain and host content.

Offer to inform readers of your blog with free email management services like Feedblitz (if you don’t have an email list management solution) in addition to offering RSS feeds for subscription. Readers and visitors can be kept updated of any new information being added to your blog without having to check the site constantly.

Utilize blog and ping to get sites indexed quickly by the search engines. By notifying popular ping servers monitored by blog search services such as Google Blog Search, you attract search engine spiders to a blog. A blog can automatically be setup to ping certain web sites. An easy method of doing this is by adding the Pingomatic service to the sites to ping in the blog software which pings many popular ping servers at once.

Finally, remember to submit to popular, high quality blog directories such as Feedster, Technorati, Blogstreet, and Best of the Web Blog Directory to boost your web traffic and link popularity!

If you respect these rules you will most likely have a successful blog, and you will be rewarded in the process. Ask a SEO consultant for further information and assistance if you are stuck for ideas to promote your new blog.

This article was written by Anthony Yap of http://www.anthony-yap.com. Anthony Yap is a SEO Expert and internet entrepreneur. He works with many businesses to maximize their profit potential through cost-effective search engine optimization. For select clients, he offers a guaranteed top ten rankings package in the major search engines.

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

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.

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.

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Blogging has been practiced for years. But it’s just recently that it has been considered as one of the addicting fads. Many people have resorted to blogging as an outlet for their emotions, a little online nook where they can blurt out whatever just bugs them or whatever makes them feel elated. Savvy marketers have also discovered that blogging is one of the best Internet marketing methods that won’t break your bank account.

Just what exactly is blogging? Blog is the widely used term that refers to web log. In a nutshell, a blog is like an online journal. A blog could be set up to no cost at all, and can be used for just for the fun of it or most importantly for business reasons.

Blogging for your Internet business is one surefire and easy way to boost the visibility of your products and services. Here are a few ways to boost your internet advertising with the help of a blog:

1. Make your clients or customers abreast on your website’s alterations. Your new services, products and affiliate websites could also be announced through your blog.

2. Share your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

3. Keep track of your business objectives and plans through open writing. Your blog content can be easily stored through archives. What could be better than searchable information that could be easily accessed by anyone browsing the web, right?

4. Include links that will fetch back links and subsequently improve your ranking on search engines. This could be better executed through putting well-written articles in your website. Affiliate links could also be included in your blog to earn additional income.

5. Collect response through the ability of blogs to fetch comments from your blog readers. You can learn and improve your products and services through the comments and feedback left by your readers.

6. Connect easily with other bloggers. When other bloggers notice that you have something good in your blog, they will put you in their favorite lists that will automatically link you to their blogs.

So, how do you set up a blog? Here are some of the options you can make use of to take advantage of this fun way to advertise your Internet business.

Either you load a blogging software or let a blogging hosting service do it for you. Host services such as LiveJournal and Blogger.com are the most popular in this field. Those hosts will provide you with easy instructions on how to put up your blog easily.

Jo Han Mok is a frequent guest and featured speaker at Internet Marketing bootcamps and conferences on subjects such as copywriting and Joint Venture Marketing. Visit his website to find out how he can help you turn mere words into cash! http://www.MasterWordsmith.com

Introduction To Blogging – Part 3b: Setting Up A Blog On A Private Domain

Warning: this article, by necessity, touches on some technical webmastering details. If you want to set up a blog but do not want to use a free host, then this article is for you. However, if you find it too technical, you may want to consult a a friend who understands this stuff. I’ll do my best to keep the technical aspects to a minimum. I do not provide specific details of installation and configuration.

So, you’ve decided to forego a free host and use your own web domain for your new blog because of the freedom it affords you. The steps to do so are functionally simple, but there are important differences compared to using a free host. Here are the general steps:

1. Choose a domain name for your blog that best represents what you will be writing about.
• When you choose a domain name, you might consider the terms “blog”, “diary”, “journal”, or “letters” as part of the name. There are some bloggers who think that the term “blog” might not be in use in a few years. I personally don’t think it matters that much: use what you are comfortable with.
• Unfortunately, a lot of short, popular keywords and phrases have already been registered as domain names. You may have to come up with a large list of name options, and check them in decreasing order of preference.
• There are a number of websites that offer free domain name checking. For example, http://www.internic.ca, http://www.internic.com, and variations thereof for several other countries. Most Internet hosting providers also offer a domain name checking service that tells you whether the name is taken or not.
• If you plan to use your website to promote your business, it is recommended that you register your domain name for at least two years. This helps your standing in the Search Engines, and indicates that you intend to do serious business on the Internet instead of becoming a “spammer”. Of course, if you are promoting your business, the domain name should probably be similar to your business name. Your blog can then simply be setup in a subdirectory of your domain.
2. Choose a hosting plan.
• Once your domain is registered, you need to pay for the monthly cost of site bandwidth. With most hosting providers, you can register a domain and set up the hosting all in one session. However, you should understand the difference:
• Registering a domain name is like registering a business name with the government, but it also gives you your future web address, or URL.
• Setting up a hosting plan is the equivalent of paying for monthly rent for an office space for your business. If you choose the right hosting provider, you can do all the setup in one place.
• Compare the hosting plans of several hosting providers. Most of them will let you upgrade later, painlessly. But changing providers later is a pain and is best avoided, so choose carefully. If you’re just starting out, there’s no need to spend lots of money getting advanced hosting plans. Unless you have tons of money and plan a huge promotional campaign. In which case, it’s unlikely you need to read the rest of this article or series
3. Set up your blog. Here’s where things could get technical, and there are a lot of options.
• If you don’t have a technical friend you can rely on, your hosting provider may offer a service where they do this for you, as part of their hosting account package, or may charge you a setup fee. One of my providers has an administrative panel where you can enter some information (such as your new blog’s name, etc), and the blog will be set up for you after you click “install”. Many providers offer this type of easy install, but they do not always have any of the popular blogging platforms.
• If you want to use one of the more popular platforms, such as MovableType, WordPress, TextPattern, Drupal, etc., you’ll need to download the software from the source, then upload it to your new domain’s web server (host), then install it. This is too technical to explain properly in a single article. I recommend finding a host or a webmaster that will do this for you. For example, both MovableType and WordPress have teamed up with hosting providers to do this. You would have to register your domain name elsewhere, but then set up hosting with them.
• There are far too many blogging platforms and too many differences of installation to get into the details here. In fact, I could fill a book talking about the different blogging platforms. All of the popular platforms have reasonably well-written instructions. Here’s my summary of a few platforms I’m familiar with:
• While Blogger.com is most often used with the controversial Blogspot.com domain, you can use Blogger.com’s interface to set up a blog on your own domain.
• Blogger.com is very easy to set up and use. It’s a bare-bones blogging platform, but it’s not a bad starting point for new bloggers.
• WordPress.org’s WordPress is super-simple to install and has a whole host of “skins” (templates) and plugins for special functionality. I love the easy install, but many of my favourite WordPress plugins slow the website down, forcing me to disable them. This platform is quite popular amongst non-technical bloggers who manage their own domain.
• SixApart.com’s MovableType is easy to use. I enjoy the interface, and use it almost daily for a blog I write for someone else. But because I focus on free, OpenSource CMSes (Content Management Systems), I haven’t used the full version of MovableType on any of my sites. (There is an older free “personal” version.)
• SixApart also offers their own free OpenSource platform called LiveJournal. You can use their free hosting, which in principal is like Blogspot.com. But if you don’t want their banner ads showing, you have to pay a monthly fee. You can also down load the LiveJournal platform code and install it on your own domain. Unfortunately, unless you have a background in using the Linux operating system, you probably shouldn’t even attempt it.
• Drupal.org’s Drupal is arguably one of the most versatile and well-supprted blogging platforms. I’ve selected it for my next round of blogs. However, it’s not an easy install like WordPress. Furthermore, according to the Drupal community, domains set up with some hosting providers may produce database problems. I’ve encountered this issue myself and haven’t decided what to do.
• TextPattern, BoastMachine, Nucleus and several other newer platforms are gaining in popularity. They’re relatively easy to use and install. In fact, some hosting providers offer one or more of them with point-and-click install simplicity.
• Most of the above require that you at least know how to “FTP” files, and what that means.
• OpenSourceCMS.com has a detailed survey of many more blogging platforms and other CMSes. There are demos of each platform as well.
4. Set up a welcome page. Once your blog is set up, you can start posting entries. Most blogging platforms display entries in reverse chronological order. Nevertheless, it’s appropriate to start with a “welcome” post, explaining what your intent is, what you will be writing about, and how often.

Keep in mind that you can combine a regular website with a blog. In such an instance, the main page looks like a regular website, but there would be an area on the page with a “featured article”. My suggestion, if you’re just starting out, is to keep it simple. There is time later to re-design your website, and to customize the page template. I know I’ve glossed over a lot of very technical details, but you can learn along the way.

In the next article, I’ll talk about how to promote your blog, whether you’ve used a free host or a private host. In a still later article, I’ll talk a bit about ad networks and how you might earn some advertising revenue.

(c) Copyright: 2006-present, Raj Kumar Dash, Chameleon Integration

Raj Kumar Dash is a writer, author, and Internet consultant. Visit his hubsite at http://www.chameleonintegration.com/ to find the full introduction to blogging. (A free ebook on blogging is in the works.) Newbie bloggers can also visit Raj’s BlogSpinner blog at http://blogspinner.countwordula.com/ for a “how-to guide to blogging”.

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After you create a blog that is interesting, now it is time to start making money. The second step of getting visitors is the most important, if you plan on making money. The third step is choosing how you will make money from your blog. You should try to keep your blog on the same topic on all your post, being that you can have an unlimited number of blogs, you can have a blog for any and every topic you choose. Make sure to start a new blog if you are totally off the main subject of the blog that you are posting to.

Blogger and several other free blog companies make it very simple to have a brand new blog up and running in a matter of a few minutes. Try not to post an article about dogs on a blog about golf. Once you have an interesting blog on one particular topic, the best place to start making money is Google AdSense. Blogger has made it very simple to add AdSense ads to your blog. The ads that show up on your blog will be targeted towards the topic of your blog, which means if you have a blog about dogs, the ads that show up on your blog will deal with pets. It’s like Google is paying you to advertise on your blog.

Another way to make money with your blog is with affiliate programs. Companies will pay you good money to advertise their products, and all you have to do is put a link or banner on your blog leading to that companies web site. Once a sale is made the company gives you a commission. That is the reason you should pick one topic for your blog. If you want to have a blog about your life, by all means do it, but have other blogs about specific topics if you want to make money.

Once you find a topic that interest you, look for affiliate programs for that particular topic. With the dog blog example, there are several dog training products that you can have links and banners to on a dog blog that will make good money. ClickBank is the top company when it comes to affiliate products, they have over 10,000 products to choose from. Browse their products to see which ones you would like to promote. Obviously you want to pick something that fits the topic of your blog, but don’t limit yourself to just one, you can change a product you are promoting with a few clicks.

The internet is the essence of marketing, by that I mean, every word in an ad matters, every color, where the ad is located on your blog, whether is is blinking or not, and the color of the text. It might not seem like all of those things matter, but the fact is, everything that you decide matters. The good thing is you can experiment with how your blog looks as much as you want. There are several e-books written on how you should place and where you should place them, in the beginning, just go with the basic blog set-up until you get the hang of things.

Create a Blog

Todd C. Robinson is Blogger for http://create–a–blog.blogspot.com

Blogging for Business

Blogs have quickly evolved from quirky and droll Internet diaries into the next wave of the information revolution. Many companies are starting blogs or encouraging their employees to blog. A number of books on business blogging are starting to be released and many companies are offering business blog consulting.

What exactly is a blog? Blog is short for “web log.” A blog is a simple website or extension to a website that is written in a personal and conversational tone. Most blogs allow readers to leave comments making them interactive and fostering a sense of community. Updating a blog is similar to writing an email; no technical knowledge is required.

One example of a blog is “FastLane” by Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of General Motors. Bob writes in his blog roughly twice a week about automobiles and the automobile industry. One recent blog post is about the future plans of General Motors. In another, Mr. Lutz shares his opinions about the results of a recent automobile quality survey. These posts have anywhere from 40 to 150 reader comments.

There are many other companies with blogs including Microsoft, Boeing, and Sun Microsystems.

Blogs can help companies in several ways:

by adding a personal voice to a company and personality to its website and brand

by publicizing company programs, opinions and values

by engaging customers in discussions and receiving feedback as well as providing company insights

as a useful tool for internal collaboration, allowing communication without writing reports or generating email

Until recently, blogs were considered a bizarre Internet phenomenon without much practical use. Today blogs are a cutting edge information dissemination technique that is quickly becoming a significant mainstream business tool.

Ted Demopoulos is co-author of Blogging for Business and a business blogging consultant. Subscribe free to the BizBlog+ Newsletter for in-depth tips and secrets on effective uses of blogs for business, including business positioning and marketing issues, building blog readership, making money from blogs, and much more!

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After you create a blog that is interesting, now it is time to start making money. The second step of getting visitors is the most important, if you plan on making money. The third step is choosing how you will make money from your blog. You should try to keep your blog on the same topic on all your post, being that you can have an unlimited number of blogs, you can have a blog for any and every topic you choose. Make sure to start a new blog if you are totally off the main subject of the blog that you are posting to.

Blogger and several other free blog companies make it very simple to have a brand new blog up and running in a matter of a few minutes. Try not to post an article about dogs on a blog about golf. Once you have an interesting blog on one particular topic, the best place to start making money is Google AdSense. Blogger has made it very simple to add AdSense ads to your blog. The ads that show up on your blog will be targeted towards the topic of your blog, which means if you have a blog about dogs, the ads that show up on your blog will deal with pets. It’s like Google is paying you to advertise on your blog.

Another way to make money with your blog is with affiliate programs. Companies will pay you good money to advertise their products, and all you have to do is put a link or banner on your blog leading to that companies web site. Once a sale is made the company gives you a commission. That is the reason you should pick one topic for your blog. If you want to have a blog about your life, by all means do it, but have other blogs about specific topics if you want to make money.

Once you find a topic that interest you, look for affiliate programs for that particular topic. With the dog blog example, there are several dog training products that you can have links and banners to on a dog blog that will make good money. ClickBank is the top company when it comes to affiliate products, they have over 10,000 products to choose from. Browse their products to see which ones you would like to promote. Obviously you want to pick something that fits the topic of your blog, but don’t limit yourself to just one, you can change a product you are promoting with a few clicks.

The internet is the essence of marketing, by that I mean, every word in an ad matters, every color, where the ad is located on your blog, whether is is blinking or not, and the color of the text. It might not seem like all of those things matter, but the fact is, everything that you decide matters. The good thing is you can experiment with how your blog looks as much as you want. There are several e-books written on how you should place and where you should place them, in the beginning, just go with the basic blog set-up until you get the hang of things.

Create a Blog

Todd C. Robinson is Blogger for http://create–a–blog.blogspot.com

Article Writing is a Winning Strategy when Combined with Blogging (Part One)

I am sure what I am about to tell you is common knowledge amongst seasoned Internet Marketers and Business Web Site Owners but it takes a lot of hard graft and several years of trial and error to get any business running profitably. During this start – up phase there will be many sleepless nights and not much in the way of free time. However the exponential growth of the Internet has turned traditional Marketing on its head and provided unheard of opportunities for those who have little start up capital. One of the ways in which your message can reach a wide audience with breakneck speed is the ability to craft informative Articles covering your particular subject and areas of expertise and get them circulating.

A lot has been written about the importance of getting your articles published and circulating widely, in building confidence amongst your readers and subscribers and web site visitors. Establishing your reputation as a trusted expert in your particular field can be built over time with a constant stream of articles and dramatically enhanced when your work is published elsewhere on the Internet, beyond the boundaries of your own web site. Let’s have a brief look at how you would go about this and what sort of results you could reasonably expect.

With the flavour of the Month now firmly resting with the mighty army of Bloggers, it is worth a quick look at how this could impact on your Article writing career. Blogs have taken the Internet by storm because of the ease with which the every day aspiring writer and marketer can now, without any cost whatsoever, set up a Web-Log in half an hour or less! I suppose the most popular Blogging Host is Blogger.Com and provides a reasonable platform to get started. Many Web Hosting companies are providing alternative blogging software with the more traditionally named WordPress.

It is well worth trying out both these software programmes and seeing which suits you better. My own preference is for WordPress but I am using both for several blogs. The Wordpress dashboard is perhaps a little more intimidating initially but it has a lot of features that Blogger does not.

In a nutshell, a blog enables the average person to be published instantly and if you are prepared to take the time to learn the tips and tricks you will soon be posting regularly and will then have the impetus to go a couple of clicks up the ladder to composing fully fledged Articles which will stand along side the best out there. This was my chosen route during the last year and the transition from wondering would it work to getting going, was the most difficult. Having heard about blogs and articles for quite a while during web research it still took the compelling words of a master marketer to light the fire.

It is not too difficult to keep that fire burning once you see some results, however small they may be initially. In my own case the first and very amateurish blog far outperformed the Web site with links in just two months. The Web site had been going for five years, admittedly with not a huge sum spent on its development, but nevertheless it showed what can be achieved with regular posts or mini articles in a very short time. Around this time the first articles were published including one that had sat on my hard drive for a year and it is the combination of these two separate strategies that works so well.

The key I was told in the beginning was to post every day if possible and at least three times a week for the first six months, before expecting any results! The results far outweighed the meagre expectations and continue to grow daily. I am not going to tell tales of unimaginable riches at this point since it is very early days but I do believe that the combination of Blogging and Article circulation can make a huge difference to any web presence, given plenty of action and hard work with the pen. Of course this is only one of the many avenues in making a viable business online or offline for that matter.

In part two we will dissect the various strategies that should be employed to make this work smoothly and hopefully persuade those of you out there who are still sitting on the fence to take some action no correction! Massive Action. Want to know who the Massive Action Master is? You will have to look a little further to the authors’ resource box thingy below and then do some Detective Work. It would be worth your while since one good idea can sometimes change your life!

The author is one of a growing number of Business owners who is slowly but surely getting to grips with the nuts and bolts of marketing online with Articles and Blogs.Robin Piggott is looking to create better awareness of the dangers of life on the road through online expansion of his Driving School Web Site in Limerick,Ireland,and to encourage new business owners to market with Articles via the Net Newbie blog

http://www.astralmotoring.ie

http://NetNewbieProfits.blogspot.com

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This is not going to be easy. Here I am writing a kind of blog which essentially says you should stop doing it. But I’m going to say it all the same. Deep breath…..blogging is wasting your time and draining your profitability. You should stop blogging right away. That’s it. Hang up your keyboard and give up blogging. It’s a has-been activity.

I’ve spent the past three and a bit years actively blogging with several personal and business blogs. In total I’ve spent over 105 full 24 hour days writing blogs. That means I’ve lost that time to income generation. While I was blogging I wasn’t earning money. A third of a year gone without cash. Not a pretty thought.

So I investigated blogging. I’ve spoken with bloggers of all kinds and discovered one common theme. Bloggers are spending hours each week writing thoughts, ideas, messages like this one instead of what they used to do before blogging was invented, which was earning money. Almost no-one I spoke with earned any money from their blogs.

If you are a regular blogger, you need to ask yourself does it help or hinder your business? Blogging is a cost to your business that doesn’t appear anywhere in your accounts. Your probably try to keep down your phone bill, your transport costs and your accountancy fees. But the time you spend blogging will almost certainly add up to much more than these.

Blogging only works if you make money from it. You need to measure the impact of blogging on web site traffic, search engine positioning and resulting sales. You could also try to use blogs to generate cash as a separate entity.

True enough, blogging may be therapeutic, enjoyable, perhaps cathartic for you. But if you are in business and it isn’t generating cash, it’s a waste of your time and money

Graham Jones is a psychologist who has investigated the way people use the Internet. His research can help you make the most of the Internet, particularly if you are hoping to make money online.

He also runs workshops on blogging http://www.bloggingworkshop.co.uk

Does Blogging Get You More Sales?

“Everyone is too scared to use the Internet to buy things”.

Remember when they said that? It’s not that long ago.

Look at us now. People can and do buy anything and everything from the web. The fear, really a fear of change has gone.

They said TV would destroy the cinema. That didn’t happen. The movies are a completely different form to TV but we didn’t realise at the time. TV and cinema both survived and now both feed off each other.

In hindsight we all see what was perfectly obvious.

Now they’re saying that Blogs, or weblogs are taking over the Internet.

A blog is effectively an online journal where you, or a group, can record their innermost thoughts and make comments about a topic. Anyone has access to read your journal entry (known as a post) and can comment on it.

For much more detailed information about blogging look at the entry in wikipedia for “Blogging.“

You get over 474 million search results if you enter “blog” into Google.

Part of the reason for the blogs attraction is its ease of use. It takes only a few minutes to begin “blogging”.

First you sign up with a blog server, like Google’s Blogger, SixApart’s TypePadblog or use Wordpress.

You choose a page template you like. There are a number of very good ones available completely free. Then post your first entry.

The final step is to let a blog directory know each time you create a new post (this is called pinging). Services such as Pingoat and Pingomatic are sites that can ping a number of other directories on your behalf.

People search these directories using blog search engines and browse the blogs in a similar way to web sites.

Do Companies Really Use Blogs?

Company executives use blogs. For example Bob Lutz, Vice President of General Motors has his own blog. Other people from GM contribute to it as well. IBM Vice President Bob Sutor and Vice President of Marketing for Boeing Randy Baseler write their own blogs too.

Employees from corporates like Microsoft, Google and Hewlett Packard blog.

When blogging is used in a positive way it shows your customers and prospects your corporate personality and helps build rapport.

What Are The Blog Downsides?

The company CEO shouldn’t blog. That’s because there may be pressure to flag future events. Or worse, if they drop a clanger it can be spread world-wide very quickly.

A further potential blogging downside is that you’ve no influence over what others put in their own blogs about what you’ve written.

You only need to look at some of the comments that General Motors got on Bob Lutz’s blog when they started a discussion on seatbelts to see how heated things can get.

Companies may be concerned that employees will spend too much time blogging or reading blogs. That means a blogging policy should be in place to prevent such abuse.

What Is The Advantage Of A Blog?

A blog can position someone, or a company, as an expert. But people can easily pass other people’s work off as their own. So it really is a case of “buyer beware” when reading blogs.

So are blogs going to be a knock-out for attracting and retaining customers?

The short answer is it depends, and the reasons are:

1) It’s just another marketing communication channel – it can be used well or not. Rather like PR is used. 2) For some companies it’s just too public 3) It’s completely without editoral control 4) It requires commitment to update regularly and to check and respond to comments

It’s been said that consultancies and other organisations that deal in knowledge and intellectual property benefit most from blogging. That’s because they can demonstrate their ability and expertise to their market in a different way from other marketing tactics.

But really why should it stop there? General Motor’s blog is useful for communicating new model launches and answering customer feedback.

In fact there really is no practical limit to the who can use blogging to communicate with customers and prospects.

But In The End Is Blogging A Dead-end?

The business blog is definitely an important communication tool that every company should seriously consider as part of their marketing arsenal. But it must be looked at as another business tool whose ultimate measurement is: “does it get more sales or reduce company costs?”

If it can’t deliver at least one of those measures business blogging deserves to fail.

I’ve been blogging for over a year now and I’ve found that I’ve had thousands of hits. Intentionally I don’t get any sales from it. But that’s because I’m writing mini articles and will eventually use them as a basis for my next book.

So in the final analysis blogs are another communication channel so companies have the ability to take theirs and make it do the PR, word of mouth, viral and Internet marketing for them.

Internet advertising has grown into big business. Expect blogging to do the same.

Jim Symcox, The Marketing Magician, has worked as a business consultant since the mid 1980’s.

He is a copywriter, marketing evangelist and coach and the author of the short and snappy ebook “How to Leap Ahead Of Your Competitors”.

For a free copy of “How To Leap Ahead Of Your Competitors email web@acornservice.com with “ezine” in the subject line.

Go to http://www.Acornservice.com to opt in to Jim’s free and no obligation email seminar series on business growth (including a module called “How To Create Your USP”).

For regular up to the minute nuggets on marketing, internet marketing and business check out the Power Packed Business Growth Blog at http://www.acornservice.blogspot.com.

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You’ve finally created a blog and you’ve made your first post. Now how do you get people to actually read what you’re blogging about?

Here are some tips on promoting your blog.

1) Quality Content – Interesting content will keep your readership returning. Update your blog regularly. Googlebot, which is Google’s web-crawling robot loves content. The more you update your blog, the more frequent the search engine spiders will return to it.

2) Take part in forums that are related to blogging. Ask other bloggers for their opinion on your blog and take their suggestions to heart.

3) Publish an RSS/Atom/XML feed. If you’re using Blogger, you can turn on RSS feed by clicking on settings in your dashboard and then clicking on site feed and make sure that your settings are set to yes.

4) Carefully choose your subject titles, taking into consideration what other internet users may be searching for. Use keywords in your title. I suggest subscribing to wordtracker.com. Their report of the most popular searches is published each Tuesday and distributed to over 30,000 subscribers. Technorati.com, is a blog search engine that also lists the top search words. The more targeted your keywords are, the greater your return in search engines will be.

5) Involve yourself in commenting on other blogs. You can gain a loyal readership just by offering feedback to your fellow bloggers. The comment feature allows you to add a link back to your blog as well.

6) Be sure to include your blog address in forum signatures and in your email signature.

7) Submit your blog to directories. Submit your blog’s url to: technorati.com, daypop.com, blogdex.net and popdex.com

Write articles. Include a resource box in your article and submit it to article directories such as ezinearticles.com .

9) If you’re using blogging software such as Blogger, there is an option to notify the central blog update services such as weblogs.com whenever you’ve made a new entry to your blog. Make sure that this option is turned on! In blogger, click on publish in your dashboard and make sure that your settings are set to yes under notify weblogs. Alternatively, you can go to ping-o-matic.com and send out a ping each time you update your blog. This lets everyone know that you’ve just updated your blog.

10) Link to other blogs. Use services like blogrollingcom, which is similar to linking. Blogrolling allows you to maintain an updated list of your favorite blogs. But, don’t build a long blog roll of sites that you have no intention of returning to. There is nothing more annoying then visiting a blog that has a humongous blogroll.

Be patient, traffic doesn’t happen overnight. The best way that I’ve found to increase traffic is by getting to know people. Spend what free time that you have, reading blogs, leaving feedback and building friendships. Try to leave comments on the blogs that you visit as often as you can. While you are waiting for the traffic to come, just enjoy blogging. You’ll be improving your writing in the process. Eventually you’ll build a network of not just readers, but friends and loyal supporters. Blogging is not just about marketing; it’s about creating lasting relationships.

Rose DesRochers is a published poet and freelance writer. Rose has been writing poetry for more than 20 years. She is also the founder of http://www.todays-woman.net , a supportive online writing community for men and women over 18. She is also the Assistant Administrator of http://www.invision-graphics.com. Rose DesRochers’s blog : http://rosedesrochers.todays-woman.net.

Blogging: How to Get Started

If you wish to start blogging, the process is probably easier than you might have thought. I have helped a number of people get started, and often they are very intimidated and seem to let the slightest obstacle upset them to the point where they almost give up. But in reality, you can learn how to be a blogger in a very short period of time, typically a few hours or less depending on the level you wish to proceed at. Your first step is deciding which kind of blog, or web log, you wish to launch. You will generally want a business, news or personal blog. If want the latter, then one of the blog freebies’ services such as blogger or myspace will be adequate.

In this case you simply sign up for a free account, choose the name for your blog, choose a template (this part is self explanatory. Generally you just point and click your selection among several possible choices) and perhaps choose a “skin” which is sort of like a background or wallpaper.

Then you simply start posting. Although this is one of the easiest steps, some people have difficulty here because they cannot find the button. It is different on a lot of different blogs but it often is identified as ‘Creat Post’ or ‘Create Blog’ but it can occasionally be different. You will know you found it when a blank screen with a subject line pops up, much like an email form.

If you are starting a business web log, and you would like to use a free blog, you may want to go with Blogger because they are easily integrated with Google Adwords and you can post your blog entries directly to your website if you choose. They also allow for an unlimited number of posts. If you don’t mind spending a little bit of money for your business blog then I would probably recommend Moveable Type or Type Pad but there are several other good ones depending on your specific business needs. These services generally offer another level of flexibilty and sophistication, elements which are not always needed by the novice blogger.

If you are planning on starting a news blog, there are a number of free services which will probably be adequate for most beginners. http://www.blogeasy.com/ has many of the same flexible features offered by blogger, and I really like http://www.blogsome.com/ as well. Some of these and other free blog services will allow you to have newsfeeds connected to your blog while virtually all of them will allow you to publish your own RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feed, which is the one essential ingredients for a news sites and for many business blogs as well.

Ryan Joseph is a writer of freebies, blogging and many other topics. More information is available at

The Free Samples, Freebies & Freestuff Directory

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As a "blogmeister" I’m often asked "How personal should I make my blog?"

This is a great question. The answer for everyone is different.

There is no set answer to this question. It’s important to remember that your blog is a living extension of your business, and ultimately you. So keep in mind the image you want to portray, the goals of your blog and what your audience is looking for.

Howard Stern is a good example. Howard is often challenges his audience to “change the channel, no one is making you listen.” It’s part of his image, his schtick. It’s one reason why people do listen. The part of his audience that hates him tunes in because they love to be angry!

Does that model work for your “toy train” online business? I’m not sure. Let’s use the “toy train” business as a “model” (notice the clever play words).

1. Who is my audience?

Your audience ranges from Neil Young (who owns Lionel) to possibly 10 year olds who build and collect model train sets. Their experience level ranges from the new collector/modeler to the experienced hobbyist. This is important in determining the “feel of the read”…are you writing for a 35 year old who wants hard facts and analysis, or a 12 year old who wants to have fun and learn. The beauty of blogging is you can have both. Think about separating categories for your audience. Have Product Reviews, Product Releases, Kids Corner, How to, Ask the Conductor, Tips and Tricks, etc. as specific categories and post accordingly.

2. How and Why Do They Buy?

Does my audience buy on a whim, or do they buy when they “find the solution”? Are new product releases an important feature my audience is looking for? Do “Product Reviews” increase the possibility that a potential customer will pull out their credit card and purchase?

3. What do I find interesting?

This is probably the best indicator of what to write. If you haven’t already, take some time, visit, read and write down what it is you like about the blogs you frequent in your market target. Chances are if you like it, other people will to. Now take your list of “likes” and combine them and create “a better blogtrap”.

4. Why would I read this blog, subscribe, come back or make a buying decision here?

In addition to a blog being a vehicle for you to get your information out there and attract and keep an audience, your blog can become an interactive, user supported community. Think about the features you like on other people’s blog, and maybe even ones that don’t exist. What about having a contest for the best train picture, the coolest design, etc. Let users post their pictures and vote. Offer a prize. Allow members to email and print articles they like. Encourage them to ask and answer questions.

5. Is it fun for me?

Running a successful blog takes time, but you don’t have to become a shut-in. Structure your blog from the beginning to fit your schedule and your passion. Try and post something everyday. Your posts don’t have to be 1,000 words each, they can be about something you learned the day before, big or small. Don’t be afraid to ask your competitors or customers to help you keep the blog going by posting their valuable information. Always give them attribution, or at least a link to their site if they ask. Remember, your blog is a “service” that transcends petty competition. It has no ego, ex-wives, jealous husbands or personal problems. It just wants to be useful and used.

For me, I like to read blogs where the personality of the owner comes out. I read blogs mainly for the strength of the content, technical information or news, but the blogs I return to the most, the ones I subscribe to and pass on to friends and employees are the ones that are fun to read and provide valuable information.

Sometimes the personality of the owner adds a level of trust and intimacy between the reader and the author that raises the articles/posting above the clutter of the Net.

So decide for yourself how personal you want to get.

When deciding what to write for my blog (www.theblogmill.com) I like to pretend I’m Clint Eastwood:

“Did I write 6 posts or only 5. In all the confusion I kinda of lost track myself. But being this is The Blog Mill, the most powerful blog in the world, and will blow your head clean off, I have to ask myself one question ‘Do I feel plucky? Well, do I, punk?’"

So think about what you like, what your audience wants to read and how your personality fits into to your overall blog strategy and start posting.

Kaboodle Ventures Affordable SEO The Blog Mill – Main The Blog Mill

Online Poker Affiliate Marketing Strategy: Blogging

If you’re an online poker affiliate and don’t have at least one blog set up, you’re missing the boat. Blogs are a great way to promote poker and are extremely easy to use as traffic generators. Here is a quick start guide to getting you up and running with your own poker blog.

1. Choose Your Weapon – There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger. Blogger is a great way to get a blog up and online in just minutes and doesn’t require you to spend a dime on a domain name or hosting account. You can customize your blogger template with ads and begin blogging in just minutes. The second is WordPress. If you already have a domain name (or don’t mind registering one) and a webhosting account, you can install WordPress for free. If your host gives you access to Fantastico, you can actually have WordPress automatically installed on your domain in just a few mouse clicks. There are pro’s and con’s to both platforms but both will allow you to get up and running easily.

2. Decide to Blog About – There are many different topics related to poker that you could potentially blog about. Home games, online tournaments, televised tourneys, your last trip to Vegas… the list goes on and on. Pick a topic and go with it.

3. Submit Your RSS Feed – Regardless of which blogging platform you choose, you’ll have an RSS feed included. After making your initial blog post, submit your RSS feed to blog and feed directories. This will generate incoming links (which is important for a number of reasons) as well as directory traffic.

4. Write! – Update your blog at least a few times every single day. Make sure that you’re including important keyword phrases in your posts that will attract search engine visitors.

That’s all there is to it! Blogging is a very easy way to quickly publish new content to the web and if you do this consistently every day, you’ll build a good foundation of unique content that will generate traffic for you day in and day out.

Learn how to become a super poker affiliate by promoting the best poker affiliate programs at http://www.epokeraffiliate.com.

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According to the latest Time – CNN poll as reported by Wolf Blitzer in the situation room, Kvetching and Internet Poker have replaced Baseball as America’s favorite pastime. Kvetching has spawned a huge industry in the United States of America now that the manufacturing jobs have been relocated to China. “Kvetch”: “to complain, blame, harangue, scapegoat, get freaked out about, drive crazy, whine about, gossip, spin, twist the truth, lie and tell the truth about but do nothing about it except kvetch.”

Kvetching is the fuel of the internet, a multi billion dollar industry. The internet has turned the Earth into a worldwide Kvetchfest. Every blog is a series of daily kvetches by literally hundreds of millions of people world wide. Blogging is now replacing psychiatry as a way for people to vent their fear, frustration, anger, and sense of worthlessness. Soon blogging will render psychiatry obsolete. Instead of lying on a couch for 45 minutes complaining about what your father said to you when you were 5 years old, as your Doctor sits silently thinking about what to buy his mistress for her birthday, and then saying, “I’m sorry our time’s up for this week I’ll see you next Wednesday”, for $100 per session, people can now sit down at their computer and kvetch for free for as long as they like to the entire world.

Not only this, but the search engines’ super computers index every single word of every single person’s kvetch, so that if you search “Bush” you will come up with 228 million search results. Unfortunately the search engines do not yet display all 228 million results for each word, but they do display a thousand, and getting your kvetch into the top thousand has spawned an entire industry of snake oil salesmen called SEO experts. For a modest fee these people will tell you which words to use in your kvetch, submit your kvetch to millions of search engines, and promise to get your kvetch into the top ten kvetches for your keyword, the big time, where millions of people can read about your problem and feel sorry for you and send you comments, emails, and invite you to join their group of people with similar complaints. The NSA is now recording every telephone conversation that you make, writing down the name and number of the person you called, and recording every word of every blog that you write. It is as though they are recording on super computers every thought that comes into your mind. Even George Orwell could not have imagined this. It is like we are robots gone mad and our brains are mini computers and the government is the main computer trying to reign us all in, to defragment the system before we blow up the earth once and for all.

Kvetching is the fuel of the media, newspaper commentators and television commentators. You can now watch the talking heads in high definition. They have divided up into groups, Democrats and Republicans. Now the Republicans are kvetching about the other Republicans, as well as the Democrats. The Shiites are kvetching about the Sunnis and the Kurds and the Muslims are kvetching about the Hindus. The Americans are kvetching about the Iranians and the Iranians are kvetching about the Jews and the Americans. The psychiatrists only exist now because the search engines are not permitted to hand out medications, although that is changing. Drug companies are buying up our email addresses and spamming our mail boxes with invitations to purchase anti depressants over the internet without the intervention of any doctors. They are not concerned that many of these anti depressants cause even worse depression and cause the bloggers to commit suicide. The doctors are getting their revenge on patients who left them for their keyboards.

There is a deeply spiritual reason why computers are so popular. We know from countless people who have had near death experiences that after death many of us go back into a tunnel of brilliant white light. We experience a sense of complete relief and ecstasy, not a care in the world, all of our troubles left behind. Looking into the white light of our computer screens for hours on end we become one with the white light that is our holy spirit. We feel as though we are back in the womb, back in heaven from where we came, free from all worldly cares, like nuclear world war 3, global warming, Armageddon, pollution, crumbling economies, which worries are shouted at us constantly by the newspapers, televisions, and computer screens, sending us reeling to psychiatrists, drugstores, and SEO experts.

More American soldiers have committed suicide in Iraq than have been killed in combat. Imagine the stress they are under. They are in a country where they are universally hated, protecting people who hate their guts, watching their best friends get killed and their legs and arms blown off every single day, frightened to death that this will be their fate as they round the next turn, all for a country which was tricked into going to war and no longer believes in the war. Instead of sending more troops, the United States needs to send over more SEO experts. Don’t worry. Soon it will all be over. Jesus is coming on a flying white horse to save us all again, and to meet George Bush in Jerusalem, to congratulate him on his successful crusade, reclaiming the Holy Land for Christianity as the Pope did with his Christian Army 1,000 years ago. As Albert Einstein said to his lover of 20 years, “If you didn’t kvetch you’d have nothing to say at all. So keep on kvetching, you kvetch.”

Karen Fish is a writer currently living in Los Angeles California. The Temple of Love http://www.thetempleoflove.com/

Poker Affiliates and Blogging: The Importance of Blog Design

Blogs have enjoyed increased popularity over the past few years and if you are a poker affiliate and aren’t using blogs as a tool to build your business, now is the time to start. Blogs can be a tremendously effective way to promote poker rooms through affiliate programs.

As you you’re setting up your blog, there are some important things to keep in mind in terms of design. Here are a few tips that will help make your blog stand out from the millions of others on the internet.

1. Choose a new font

Changing the font on your blog can help to make it unique, especially if you’re using a popular blog template that hundreds or thousands of other bloggers are using as well.

2. Add photos

Adding pictures to your blog will help to make it more interesting and visually appealing to your readers.

3. Add a favicon

Give your blog that extra little bit of flare by adding a favicon. Favicons are the small icons that appear next to URL’s in your browser address bar.

4. Look for cool blog templates and layouts

There are many sites on the internet that provide a wide variety of free blog templates. Using a ready made blog template to customize your blog is a quick and easy way to improve your overall design.

5. Add audio to your blog

Adding audio to your blog will not only make it unique, it will also keep your blog visitors coming back. This is a great way to stand apart from the pack.

6. Add poker room banners

As a poker affiliate, this is a given. However, don’t overdue things and clutter your blog design with 500 different banners. Keep things neat and place your banners strategically in the best locations.

I hope that you’ll begin using these tips to build your poker affiliate business by blogging. Wishing you much success in your poker affiliate efforts!

Learn how to become a super online poker affiliate by promoting the best poker affiliate program at http://www.epokeraffiliate.com/

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As a "blogmeister" I’m often asked "How personal should I make my blog?"

This is a great question. The answer for everyone is different.

There is no set answer to this question. It’s important to remember that your blog is a living extension of your business, and ultimately you. So keep in mind the image you want to portray, the goals of your blog and what your audience is looking for.

Howard Stern is a good example. Howard is often challenges his audience to “change the channel, no one is making you listen.” It’s part of his image, his schtick. It’s one reason why people do listen. The part of his audience that hates him tunes in because they love to be angry!

Does that model work for your “toy train” online business? I’m not sure. Let’s use the “toy train” business as a “model” (notice the clever play words).

1. Who is my audience?

Your audience ranges from Neil Young (who owns Lionel) to possibly 10 year olds who build and collect model train sets. Their experience level ranges from the new collector/modeler to the experienced hobbyist. This is important in determining the “feel of the read”…are you writing for a 35 year old who wants hard facts and analysis, or a 12 year old who wants to have fun and learn. The beauty of blogging is you can have both. Think about separating categories for your audience. Have Product Reviews, Product Releases, Kids Corner, How to, Ask the Conductor, Tips and Tricks, etc. as specific categories and post accordingly.

2. How and Why Do They Buy?

Does my audience buy on a whim, or do they buy when they “find the solution”? Are new product releases an important feature my audience is looking for? Do “Product Reviews” increase the possibility that a potential customer will pull out their credit card and purchase?

3. What do I find interesting?

This is probably the best indicator of what to write. If you haven’t already, take some time, visit, read and write down what it is you like about the blogs you frequent in your market target. Chances are if you like it, other people will to. Now take your list of “likes” and combine them and create “a better blogtrap”.

4. Why would I read this blog, subscribe, come back or make a buying decision here?

In addition to a blog being a vehicle for you to get your information out there and attract and keep an audience, your blog can become an interactive, user supported community. Think about the features you like on other people’s blog, and maybe even ones that don’t exist. What about having a contest for the best train picture, the coolest design, etc. Let users post their pictures and vote. Offer a prize. Allow members to email and print articles they like. Encourage them to ask and answer questions.

5. Is it fun for me?

Running a successful blog takes time, but you don’t have to become a shut-in. Structure your blog from the beginning to fit your schedule and your passion. Try and post something everyday. Your posts don’t have to be 1,000 words each, they can be about something you learned the day before, big or small. Don’t be afraid to ask your competitors or customers to help you keep the blog going by posting their valuable information. Always give them attribution, or at least a link to their site if they ask. Remember, your blog is a “service” that transcends petty competition. It has no ego, ex-wives, jealous husbands or personal problems. It just wants to be useful and used.

For me, I like to read blogs where the personality of the owner comes out. I read blogs mainly for the strength of the content, technical information or news, but the blogs I return to the most, the ones I subscribe to and pass on to friends and employees are the ones that are fun to read and provide valuable information.

Sometimes the personality of the owner adds a level of trust and intimacy between the reader and the author that raises the articles/posting above the clutter of the Net.

So decide for yourself how personal you want to get.

When deciding what to write for my blog (www.theblogmill.com) I like to pretend I’m Clint Eastwood:

“Did I write 6 posts or only 5. In all the confusion I kinda of lost track myself. But being this is The Blog Mill, the most powerful blog in the world, and will blow your head clean off, I have to ask myself one question ‘Do I feel plucky? Well, do I, punk?’"

So think about what you like, what your audience wants to read and how your personality fits into to your overall blog strategy and start posting.

Kaboodle Ventures Affordable SEO The Blog Mill – Main The Blog Mill

Poker Affiliates and Blogging: 5 Reasons to Use Blogs to Promote Online Poker Rooms

Using blogs as a poker promotion technique can be very profitable. In case you’re a poker affiliate and aren’t familiar with the world of blogging, here is a quick overview of why you should consider blogs as strategy for building your business.

Blogging is a concept that was started in the late 90’s. Blogging was originally used as a way to comment on an existing webpage and provided an opportunity for visitors to voice their opinions on a particular page. Here is a list of 5 reasons why you should start using blogs as a poker affiliate.

1. Blogging is simple. Publishing content to a blog is hands down the easiest way to get your writing on the web. There are absolutely no skills necessary to publish content to a blog, it is actually so simple that even a child can do it. Simply type and click, that’s it. Maintaining a blog is just like having a virtual piece of paper that you write your ideas to. As long as you have access to a computer and an internet connection, you can start promoting poker online.

2. Blogging is authentic. In a day and age where advertising saturates our lives, many question the credibility of ads that they are exposed to. Blogs however, allow real people to share their real life experiences and reviews, unscathed by paid ads. Blogging lends credibility to your promotion efforts and builds up trust.

3. Blogging is free. Blogging doesn’t have to cost a dime and you can get started in just minutes. What more could you ask for?

4. Blogging builds credibility. Blogging gives your readers an opportunity to gain a somewhat candid view of your thoughts, opinions, and emotions. This leads to believability and you can use this to promote your poker affiliate business.

5. Blogging expands your sphere of influence. Blogging will explode your circle of influence and you’ll soon have visitors from all parts of the world visiting your blog and reading your posts. This is extremely powerful!

As you can clearly see, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t add blogs to your poker affiliate marketing business. Give your business a boost today by tapping into the power that blogging has as an Internet marketing tool.

Learn how Party Poker affiliates are generating massive incomes with this amazing poker affiliate program at http://www.epokeraffiliate.com/

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