Blogging for Fun and Profit

							Ebook Blogging For Fun and Profits

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Introduction Part 1 Blogging for fun
Chapter 1 Blogging Overview Chapter 2 Setting Up Your Blog Chapter 3 Different Places To Blog Chapter 4 Different types of blog Chapter 5 Blogging terms Chapter 6 Wordpress how to use Chapter 7 Mistakes to avoid with blogging Chapter 8 Blogging software Chapter 9 The real difference between a social blog and business blog Chapter 10 Blogging For Fun

Part 2 Blogging For Profit
Chapter 11 How to use your blog for profit Chapter 12 How Blogging Will Help Your Business Chapter 13 Blogging search engines Chapter 14 Blogging and RSS feeds Chapter 15 Get indexed in Google with blogs Chapter 16 Marketing your blog Chapter 17 How To Drive Traffic To Your Website With Blogs Chapter 18 Blogging and newsletters

Part 3 Blogging information
Chapter 20 Why blog? Chapter 21 Blogging tools Chapter 22 History of blogging Chapter 23 The vlog-The future of blogging with videos Chapter 24 Keep politics and religion out of your blog Chapter 25 Blogging etiquette Chapter 26 Blogging Resources Chapter 27 Build A Better Business Blog

Conclusion

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Introduction
Blogging is becoming very popular as busy people realize this is a quick and effective way to convey information. It is far quicker to do a short blog than to update a whole web page let alone your site. When you write a blog you can just use it as a little teaser and then link it to new information on your website. This information can be a newsletter, article, personal happening or some new snapshots you took on vacation. It is quicker than writing a letter and you can easily reach many family members and friends. Plus you can even put a link in your blog to direct people to your photo gallery on Yahoo, or some pictures on your website. This saves you the time of uploading and sending huge files that topple your friends and family member’s mailboxes You can use them as a personal page where you can convey your thoughts to others. Express yourself and let yourself go after a hard day’s work. Communicate to colleagues and friends, quickly and easily. But that is not all! You can, not only blog for fun, but for profit also. Blogging is a fun and effective way to market. It will save you time and money. Just send a link to your log to your lists about news and new products on your website. This is a quick way to inform them without sending time consuming ads. These ads either get deleted or just ignored. A blog on the other hand is interesting and is far more likely to be read. You can market your blog effectively and get many people from your chosen market to look at your blog, by simply driving traffic to it. In this way you will save a ton of money on advertising and draw new visitors to your website and increase your sales. This book is especially designed with you the busy person in mind. Here you will be able to find out all you ever wanted to know about blogging and how to use it in the most effective way.Blog for fun and keep in contact with friends and family the quick and easy way. Know where to go and how to set up your blog easily and fast. It literally only takes a few minutes of your time but you will be able to keep in touch with many people. No more countless emails, let alone letters. In fact you will not even have to call friends and relatives so often when you keep in touch with blogging.

Learn how to write blogs that interest people. Beware of the pitfalls. Learn about what not to write in your blog and how to conduct yourself with respect and decency by following a few rules of etiquette. See all the different places you can blog and all the fun things you can do with a blog. If you run a business you can make this a profitable marketing tool. Plus it does not cost you a dime! Save loads of money and increase sales the easy way.

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You will find all this and more in this small but informative book. It will take you less than 2 hours to read but you will get a wealth of information and lots of ideas about how to blog for fun and profit. So enjoy yourself and learn about the wonderful world of blogging for fun and profit.

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Part1 Blogging For Fun
Blogging is a fun thing to do. It is in fact like a personal diary. Instead of spending days updating your website and then wondering how to let everyone know about it, you can simply send everyone your blog link and give them a quick update with a link to photos, videos, personal and family news. No more sending big files of pictures that will rock your recipient’s email and quite possibly get jammed. Just send a link via your blog and reach all your friends and family.

Chapter 1 Blogging Overview
A blog is a type of website that is used for posting entries. The word blog is a shortened form of the two words web log. The web log, or blog is typically used to post dialogue. These entries are kept on the blog in reverse chronological order, starting at the bottom of the blog. Each new entry is added to the top of the last one. Blogs can be used for posting pictures, videos and links to other websites or blogs. A blog is an electronic journal. Blogs can have the capability to allow others to post comments, making the blog very interactive. Blogging has become a popular choice for many who in the past used a homepage to put information on the Internet. The homepage was often used by people to give information about themselves and display pictures but is more cumbersome to use than a blog. The advent of the blog brought about a new and easier avenue to use instead of the homepage. Blogs were developed in about 1997 and have taken off as a hugely used Internet medium. Today there are millions of blogs with an estimated 100,000 new blogs being created daily. The number of blogs continues to double every five to six months. Blogging has become a part of our current culture. There are now political blogs that bring about changes in our government. Blogs are popular because they are so easy to set up and maintain. There are blog hosts that provide you with an account. Some hosts are free to use while others require a monthly subscription. Blog hosts make the set up and posting simple to do using templates. There is no need to know anything about computer language in order to blog. Setting up a blog is as easy as point and click. Once you choose a host for your blog you set up a name for it and you are ready to post. There are other features of the blog that you may notice when you look at one. There is the header, which tells the name of the blog and sometimes a picture or graphic. The sidebar of the blog can contain information that you determine. Some such uses are for a calendar, a bio of the author, a blogroll, ads and links to other sites. The main section of the blog contains the posts, which appear in reverse chronological order. Blog posts are easily done through regular typing through the computer keyboard. The content of the posts is completely up to you. You can, however, allow others to make posts in response. Pagina 5

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Companies to communicate with their employees and customers as well as a venue to promote their products and get their name known now use Blogs. Bloggers can submit their blog to search engines to allow others to more easily locate them when doing an Internet search. While blogs started out as a trend, they are now here to stay. The power of the blog is becoming known for many and the use of blogs will likely continue to increase.

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Chapter 2 Setting Up Your Blog
Setting up your blog is very easy. There are several steps to follow as outlined below. It won’t take very long to set up your blog. You won’t need any special software or knowledge to learn how to blog. Find a host To start with you’ll need to find a host or provider to use for your blog. There are many hosts available, with more springing up all the time. Some services are free while others charge a usage fee. Most all the hosts will provide you with all the feature capability you will need for your blog. Some free hosts have popup ads or banner ads that appear randomly throughout. Hosted blogs are best for first-time users as they are easy to use and offer plenty of features. A simple one to start off with is http://blogspot.com this is owned by Google and is crawled regularly by the Googlebots. This gives more exposure to your blogs. Alternatively, you can opt for server-side blogging. This allows you to have complete control over your blog. With server-side blogging your computer will be the server for the web log. In effect, your own computer hosts your blog. In order to set this up your computer needs to have a broadband connection to the Internet at all times and must use a static IP address. Then, you can run some server software, which is usually available for free. Additionally, you then need to run blog software to publish your blog to the Internet. Set up your blog Your blog needs a name. If you want others to read your blog choose a name that explains what it is about in the title. Some people write about random ideas throughout their blog while others choose a theme and write mainly about that. The blog name should reflect what the blog has to offer while being catchy and memorable. The basic elements of the blog are the header, footer, sidebar and posts. Blog host companies will provide many blog templates to choose from. Think about how you would like your blog to look and check out some current blogs to see which elements they use that you would like to utilize. The header is the masthead of your blog. It is the first thing that people see when they visit your blog. The header can contain a picture, graphics or text. Make the header memorable to your readers. Visit other blogs to get an idea of how other headers look. The title of your blog will go in this space. The footer is the bottom of the blog and generally contains information about the blogger, a copyright notice, a counter and perhaps links to sites that were used in the creation of the blog. A copyright notice is nothing more than a statement that bans others from taking any of your written work. The web counter provides a running count of how many visitors came to your site. Pagina 7

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Most blogs use two or three column formats where the main portion of the content is displayed in the largest sections. The left and right sides are referred to as the sidebar. Much information can go into the sidebar. Sidebar information can be static and does not change as the posts are added. Typical information in a sidebar can be a short bio of the author, a calendar, a photo, links to other blogs or sites, FAQ, a search box and a blogroll, to name just some of them. Post to your blog The main section of your blog will be devoted to your posts. These can be any length you would like and can be posted as often as you want. If you are blogging for others to read keep the posts short, about a page or less for them to be most effective. Font size and style will effect the way your blog looks, so experiment until you find the design you like the best. Try to keep the size large enough for people to read easily. When using blogspot you can also use Google Adsense and make some money with this.

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Chapter 3 Different Places To Blog
Once you are ready to set up a blog the first step is to decide on the place you will publish your blog. There are two main types of blog hosts, traditional blog host providers and server-side blogging. With traditional blog hosts you will subscribe to a host service and you are ready to begin. Server-side blogs use special software that is downloaded to your own Web server. Blog Hosts By far the easiest way to start blogging is to use a blog host. The host supplies the address for your blog as well as ready-made templates. These templates are user friendly and allow even those with limited technical computer knowledge to easily set up a blog. Blog hosts streamline the process of publishing your blog. The hosts provide a number of built-in features that you can use with your blog. The new blogger will appreciate this automated process because you need to know little about the technology to get started. There are many blog hosts available. Some are free while others offer subscription services. Free services may have ad banners. Some blog hosts feature photoblogs or video blogs. Blogger is a free host service and one of the original blog hosts. TypePad, LiveJournal and Xango are also very popular blog hosts. Myspace is the most popular social networking blog host there is.

Server-side Blogs A more hands-on approach is to set up your blog on your own Web server. This type of set-up will take more time and effort but if you are skilled in computer technology you will have no trouble setting it up. The main advantage of server-side blogs is that you will have much more control over your blog. You will not be governed by any of the restrictions that may be present with blog hosts. Another advantage to server-side blogs is that you will have more features available to you. A more advanced blogger may want the use of more features than are available with the traditional blog hosts. Web hosts offer you packages that include what you need to set up your computer as a server. There are specific requirements for your computer. You will need to have a broadband connection that is always on. You will also need to have a static IP address for that connection. There are several well-known server-side blogging systems available. Movable Type, WordPress and Greymatter all offer a high degree of reliability as well as great feature packages. Remember that these usually require an FTP program to upload the information to the site. There are many sophisticated features which more advanced bloggers will appreciate.

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No matter where you decide to blog remember to submit your blog to blogging search engines. This helps to ensure that those searching blogs for your keywords can locate your blog. Choose a title that suits your blog and create header and sidebar information that includes keywords that will be used to help your blog in searches. Most importantly, write interesting material in your posts to keep your readers coming back for more. do not forget to include links to your website if you have one.

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Chapter 4 Different types of blog
There are many types of blogs. The type of blog you make depends on what you intend to use the blog for. The most common blogs are personal blogs, however, some blogs cross over and become a blend of different types. Once you sign up with a blog host you can immediately set up your blog. There are templates you use to easily get the blog going in a matter of minutes with no previous instruction. Blogs are becoming a way for people to connect over the Internet. People like to have a personal connection with others and the blog is the perfect setting to do that. Bloggers can make comments without feeling foolish about their views. Blogs allow you to express your point of view or let others know more about you. There are many uses for blogs. Personal Blogs – Over the last decade personal blogs have taken over the need for special web site home pages. These pages were hard to maneuver and time consuming to update. Blogs are an easy way to post family information including pictures or even video. Families that are spread out across the country or even the world can keep up on each other’s activities through the blog. Social Blogs – Social blogs such as Myspace allow people to make friends over the Internet. Social blogs typically allow you to post pictures and make friends lists. People with similar interests can find each other online. Business Blogs – Companies are starting to use blogs for many reasons. First, blogs are a great communication tool for both employees and customers. A form of the blog can be put onto the company web site for immediate access. A blog that customers can access makes them feel connected. Company blogs can also be used to generate business. The blog is a way of advertising a product or service as well as branding. Educational – Blogs can be used to provide educational resources for all types of information. Teachers can use them to communicate with students and parents. People can use educational blogs to share knowledge, making the blog a source of supplemental learning. Schools and universities can use blogs to communicate with students, faculty and alumni as well as to generate donations. Interests – Special interests such as hobbies make great topics for blogs. People seek out the advice and information about their interest and the blog is a way to get people with like interests together. “How-to” blogs help people do anything from writing a resume to working on their plumbing. People can add comments with additional information making it an information exchange. Political – Ever since people have discovered blogs they have been using them to express their political views. Some of these blogs have become widely read and have even caused political changes to occur. Since the blog is a true expression of viewpoint the opinions of people have sparked great blog debates. It has been proven that blogs are now an integral part of political campaigns. Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone Pagina 11

Religious – Religion is another area that sparks blog commentary. People have many views on religion and the blog is a good outlet to vent those ideals. Blogs are a safe way to have discussions because there is no face-to-face confrontation and the posts can be anonymous.

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Chapter 5 Blogging terms
Blogs are relatively new to the Internet and have been gaining rapidly in popularity. There are many new words and terms that you need to know when setting up and using a blog. When you come upon terms that you don’t know or aren’t listed here the easiest way to learn about them is to google the word. You will find lots of information and references to the word. There are also help sections within blog host sites where you can get detailed information. Here are some of the most common blogging terms and their meanings.

Blog – A combination of the words web and log, a blog is an online journal. First called a web log, the word blog can also be used as a verb, as in “I’m going to blog”, meaning to add an entry to the blog. Blogger – Someone who uses a blog, usually the owner of the blog. Vlog – Short for video blog. A blog that uses videos instead of or in addition to text. These are just starting to become more popular as technology is using video more. Tumblelogs – Short blogs or snippets of information presented on a blog. Photoblogs – blogs containing a portfolio of photos. Some providers specialize in hosting photoblog sites. Slog – Site log – A section of a regular website that is used for blogging, often used on business sites. Blogosphere – the whole of all the blogs and links on the Internet. Podcast – An audio show that can be listened to on a computer, mp3 or other device. RSS – Short for “Really Simple Syndication”. A method of getting information from blogs or news sites when new information is posted. Blog Host – A site that provides your blog access software. Blogroll – A list of the blog author’s favorite blogs Permalink – A link to a permanent page (web address) where readers will always be able to access a specific post. Moblog – Mobile blogging – using text messaging to blog from a cell phone Blog Ring – A group of bloggers with similar interests who share information on the Internet. Pagina 13

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Search Engine – A site that provides information listings of web sites or blogs Blog Portals – Directories of blog sites that offer a browseable database Tagline – A slogan or saying associated with your blog site. It usually comes after your main title as a way of describing your site. Blog Address – The URL where your blog is located. These start with www. Posts – Articles or text written by the blog owner. Audioblog – A blog that features mostly audio entries. There are services specifically designed to cater to these types of blogs. Header – The top portion of your blog which usually contains the title and a picture or graphic. Sideblogs – Small blogs used within other blogs Blogorrhea – blog posts that have nothing to say or run on endlessly without point Site Counter – A tool to measure how many visitors there have been to your site in a given period. Adsense – A google service that provides advertising, usually on a pay per click basis.

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Chapter 6 Wordpress how to use
Word Press – How To Use It For Blogging WordPress is a server side blogging host. It provides the ability to write and publish a blog to the Internet. WordPress is a relatively new host but has a large following. The software is easy to use and is feature rich. WordPress is quicker and easier to set up than other server side blogging software. It has proven to be quite reliable. To start with, you will need access to a Web server – a computer that serves content onto the Internet. The server can be your own Web server computer or you can rent space from a Web hosting company. You will need to register your user name or domain name with a registration company. This usually has a yearly fee. Make sure that server space meets the minimum requirements for your blogging software. Consider specific Web hosts that provide click-through installation of WordPress software. Sites such as Fantastico and Dreamhost provide this interface. Once you are signed up you will need to get an FTP software installed on your computer. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a free software that allows you to download files to Internet web sites. Proper bandwidth is important for data transfer so ensure that your provider has a large enough bandwidth for your applications. WordPress is a free blogging site that is gaining in popularity. The installation and blog building is easy. There are tutorials available online to guide you through the process if needed, however, the software is very user friendly. There is also a large community of online WordPress user who provide additional support when needed. WordPress gives you all the basic features of most blogs such as sidebars, calendars and blogrolls. In addition to a whole list of basic features WordPress also offers a large array of additional features that aren’t available on most blog host sites. These additional features make WordPress a great blog provider not only for new users but for advanced bloggers and corporate bloggers as well. Some of the most useful new features are listed below. • • • • • Supports multiple blog authors Offers trackback, a powerful reporting tool Calendars are available in many different types of views Blog sites are password protected Searches are able to be set up on blog sites

Besides these features WordPress is constantly engineering new features. They will also work with customers on specific applications. WordPress puts a large focus on the aesthetics of their blog sites, producing templates that make clean, readable blogs. Their new visual quick start guide helps even beginners set up a great looking and easy to manage blog. There are many customizable features that will make advanced bloggers happy. Beginners should start by reading the section called “New to WordPress – Where To Start”. This section outlines the steps you will need to take to Pagina 15

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get your blog up and running smoothly. It breaks down the process into four easy steps: • • • • Read the documentation Make a Plan Install WordPress Set Up WorkPress

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Chapter 7 Mistakes to avoid with blogging
Blogging is a popular way to use the Internet. The popularity of blogs has risen over the last several years. There are millions of blogs now with the amount of blogs doubling every six months. Blogs are quickly replacing full-blown web sites for providing information. There aren’t a lot of rules when it comes to blogging, however, there are some things to avoid when setting up and using your blog. • • • • • • • • • • • • • Don’t choose a complicated blog name. Try to pick a blog name that will fit the topic and style of your blog. People will remember a short, catchy name better than a longer more complex one. Don’t forget to submit your blog to various search engines. Use keywords and phrases in the top portion of your site, especially in your header and sidebar. This helps promote your site in searches. Don’t make long posts. Keeping your posts down to a page or so allows people to read the entire post before moving on. Don’t use profanity or bad language. This only makes you seem uneducated and won’t foster continued readers. Remember, too, that children may read your blog. Don’t add blogs or sites to your blogroll unless you clear it with them first. Just as a matter of common courtesy you should ask permission before posting. If your site is controversial they may not want their site listed. Stay away from politics. Politics is controversial and can produce heated comments. In order to keep your site more professional, keep the talk away from political commentary. Ditto religion. Comments on religion can spark debates. Keep your posts off the subject of religion if you can. Don’t make your blog too busy. Use clear headers and footers and keep sidebars from being too cluttered. The best blogs have a crisp, clean look that makes them easy to navigate. Don’t use fancy fonts. Keep to fonts that make your blog look good. Avoid fancy fonts such as script. These are hard to read and can make people avoid your blog. Don’t mix fonts. Choose one font and stick to it indifferent sizes for your entire blog. It makes for a neat and clean presentation and makes people feel comfortable reading your blog. Don’t give out personal information. Even in your biography you need to stay somewhat anonymous. Don’t provide specifics like your address or phone number, or even your last name. Don’t spamblog. This is just a poor use of the Internet and makes people avoid your site. Don’t forget to blog. You should try to blog at least weekly or more depending on your readership. If your blog is interesting you will gain readership that expect your blog to be updated several times a week. Pagina 17

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•

Don’t add too many graphics, pictures or videos to your blog or it will take longer to load. The longer it takes the less likely a reader will stick around to see it.

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Chapter 8 Blogging software
There are many types of blogging software available. There are two ways to set up a blog. A blog host provides everything you need to start a new blog and is well suited for the beginner. The more advanced blogger may want to set up their own Web server and use server-side software to gain more control and more features. Blog Host Software The blog host will supply a web address for your blog along with templates and tools for creating and updating your blog. This is the best choice for those with either limited time or limited computer knowledge. All the work is done for you and all you need to do is choose a blog name and template and you’re on your way. Many of the blog hosts offer free blogs. These are a great way to start out and get your feet wet. The free sites often include advertising embedded into your blog. Paid accounts typically run from $3 to $10 per month and eliminate the unwanted ads as well as provide more functionality. This will give you better control on how your blog will look to readers and will likely help you increase readership. Blog host software provides fewer features than server-side software, however, if you are new to blogging or not computer savvy you will appreciate this option. Most companies offer standard features that include templates, draft posts, editing functions, spell checking, archive options, syndication, profile pages and email notification. Some popular blog hosts are: Blogger.com MySpace TypePad LiveJournal Xanga Server-side Blog Software Server-side blog software allows you to have complete control over your blog and provides enriched user features. To start with you will need a Web server. You can use your own computer for this purpose, however, most people prefer to rent space from a Web server provider. You will need to register your own domain name, which can be done through one of several providers for a small yearly fee. Make sure you get a free FTP (File Transfer Protocol) software program for your computer. You will need this to convert files for publication to the Internet. There are many server-side software providers out there. You may want to decide on this first and then make sure that you request the proper requirements when looking for a Web server provider. While this may sound intimidating, it is not too hard if you are very familiar with computer technology. Many of the more popular server-side blogging software providers offer additional features that are helpful to those who want to use the blog for business or to make Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone Pagina 19

money. Custom scripts can help you make just about any application you want to on your blog. Some host software is free such as WordPress. You can use this software if you already have a web site and just want to add a blog. Always check with your Web provider to make sure that the blog software is compatible. Some popular server-side software providers are: WordPress Greymatter Expression Engine Movable Type

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Chapter 9 The real difference between a social blog and business blog
Blogs have become a way of life for many millions of people. Every day more blogs are created. Many of these blogs are for personal or social use while many are now being used for business. Most companies now realize the importance of using a blog. While the blog started out as a social site it has now advanced and gained respect in business circles. Blogs started as a way for people to present their views to others. Through the last several years blogs have come to be regarded as important sites with many blogs becoming extremely popular. Once thought of as only social, blogs are now regarded for their importance and influence in the business world. There are a large number of people who blog each day and the number is increasing all the time. Businesses have discovered that in order to keep up with technology they should get involved in blogging. Social blogs are generally light in content and not focused on a particular issue. They are used mainly for the purpose of connecting socially with others over the Internet. Business blogs, on the other hand, are more serious in nature. They try to present an image of their business which will give the readers a picture of the way the company operates. Here are some characteristics of both types of blogs.

Social blogs: • Not focused on readership numbers. The social blog is more interested in friendship than selling anything. • Do not rely on advertising but may use ads as a way to fund the blog. Social bloggers generally don’t care about placing ads on their sites. • Don’t care as much about keywords and their use in the blog. They just want to show themselves and find others with common interests. • Younger group of users. Generally speaking, social blogs are used most often by a young demographic, with many being under age 21. • Smaller scope. The social blog usually limits itself to social topics that their readers will relate to. This may include gossip and hearsay.

Business blogs: • Want maximum readership. Business blogs usually strive to get more people to read them as a way to use the blog as a marketing tool. A blog can help create a company image and brand recognition for consumers. • More structured. Business blogs are more formal and structured than social blogs. They are focused on presenting a positive company image to the readers. Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone

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• • •

Provides information. Business blogs are designed to provide information to readers that will be useful. Blogs as part of the web site. Companies are adding blogs to their main company websites as an additional part of the total Internet package. The blogs can be used for employees, customers or both. CEO blogs – Companies are now starting to use blogs by their chief officers. These blogs create goodwill with customers and provide a human approach to an otherwise sterile company image.

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Chapter 10 Blogging For Fun
Blogging can be fun and allows you to express yourself. Many people blog because they enjoy it and not necessarily to gain readership. Blogging is an online journal that takes the place of the handwritten diary. A blog can be fun to write and offers a unique way to get your ideas out. A fun blog will help you show your creative side. You can use a blog to show who you are. You can let out your true feelings on your blog. The best blogs seem to focus on one particular theme. Your theme may be family, kids, pets, work or a particular hobby or lifestyle. Some fun blogs just show a slice of life from your own perspective. Try adding some fun features to your blog. Experiment with font styles, size and colors. Add interesting pictures to your blog. Use the header to show your fun style. Put your bio on the site so that others may learn more about you. Using a blogroll in the sidebar that will include blogs that you find interesting and fun. Many people start a blog for fun and learn how to blog. As they read other blogs and understand the process of blogging better they may go on to create a blog that is for other purposes, such as business or educational reasons. Many people, especially young people, use the Internet to make friends. The wildly popular blog site Myspace has become a meeting place for teens and young adults. Choose a fun and interesting topic for your blog. Here are some ideas: Hobby blogs – Hobby blogs are very popular and fun to write. You can use almost anything that interests you and create a blog about it. You can either chronicle your adventures in dealing with a specific hobby or use a blog to talk about the hobby in general. These types of blogs can get a nice following. People with the same hobby can add information or ask questions and the blog becomes a learning experience for everyone. Some popular hobbies are car restoration, cooking and collecting. Celebrity blogs – These blogs focus on particular celebrities. They are fueled by fans who post information and sightings as well as pictures of the celebrities. Other topics include popular television shows and reality shows. These sites have plenty of people to add posts and interesting tidbits. Sports blogs – Sports is a great topic for a blog. You can use your local town team as the focus or choose a particular sport in general. The blog can be about professional sports, college sports or participant sports. People can help supply information and tips about playing the sport as well as the gear needed and where to play, etc. Family blog – The family blog takes the place of the cumbersome web home page. A family blog is a great forum that allows family members all around the world to connect and stay informed. Pictures allow you to add more personal touches to the site. Pagina 23

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Part 2 Blogging For Profit
Blogging can also be very profitable when used as a marketing technique for your business. When done correctly it will link back to information and new products. When your reader sees these they will follow the links and become your visitor. They will often become your customer. This is a very cost effective way to promote your business, as blogging sites are often free or minimal cost.

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Chapter 11 How to use your blog for profit
It is possible to make money with your blog. While many bloggers don’t make much of a profit you can be successful if you put your mind to it. There are several methods to try in order to make money with your blog. You can ask for donations, sell merchandise or offer ads to make money. The larger your readership the more money you can make with your blog. Donations The easiest way to make some money with your blog is to ask for donations. You can ask readers for a dollar or two a month to cover the costs associated with keeping the blog. An easy way to incorporate this into your web site is using a “tip jar” tool. Many blog hosts offer this tool that links to your PayPal account. PayPal is an online currency exchange tool that has become the standard used for payments on the Internet including many sites such as Ebay. PayPal accounts are easy to set up so if you don’t have one you will need to create one in order to use the tip jar feature on your blog. Selling Merchandise Another way to make money with your blog is to sell merchandise. You can create a logo or slogan and print it on anything from t-shirts to mugs and then sell them for a profit. The very popular site CafePress allows you to sell items with your logo which they will print on demand for a small profit. This is an ideal situation because you don’t need to put up any money upfront for the merchandise. CafePress handles all the billing and shipping, too, so it’s quite easy. Use your blog sidebar to display information for your readers about purchasing these items. Advertising Ad banners or other advertising from third parties is the most common way to generate some extra income from your blog. The best way to make money on ads is to host ads in direct agreement with the company. Google AdSense is a service that provides advertising on your site based on content. The ads are posted in direct relation to the information on your blog. For instance, if you talk about your new pet puppy in your blog AdSense may place ads for pet products on your site. You are paid a very small amount each time someone clicks the ad. Although the amount of money is small, there is no cost to you for this type of advertising placement so anything you make is a profit. Google also provides a search box and pays a small amount each time it is used. As with any website, the amount of money you can make using your blog is directly related to the amount of readers your blog has. If you intend to try to make money with your blog choose a topic and title that will get you noticed and provide informative and interesting daily content. Submit your blog to blog search engines so that it will come up on keyword searches, increasing your chances of getting noticed. Blog on other similar blog sites and build a network of people with blogs similar to yours. Provide links to your blog from as many other sites as possible. Pagina 25

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Chapter 12 How Blogging Will Help Your Business
A lot of attention has been put on blogs and rightfully so. The amount of bloggers has increased with millions of blogs now online. The number blogs doubles every six months. It is no doubt, then that this online media form has become an important aspect of the smart business-marketing arsenal. Blogging is a quick and easy way to communicate with both customers and employees. Successful business blogging will help your company build relationships and goodwill between customers and employees alike. Blogs help create a good company image. Just make sure that you keep the posts current and relevant. Having a separate blog for customers versus an internal blog for employees is vital. A company can learn a lot about the state of their employee’s attitudes by using a blog. Encourage employees to post questions or concerns. A company can make positive changes to correct problems that they sometimes didn’t even know existed. A company should allow the CEO to blog. The idea that the top executive is available to the masses and gets involved in the daily activities of the company is key. This perception overflows to all aspects of the company. Just an hour a week keeps communication going and creates a mass of good will. A recent online study rated companies where the CEO blogged much higher than those whose CEO didn’t. The companies who blog seem to be more creative and in tune with technology than those who don’t. They also appear to be more well-managed and a happier place to work. Blogging is essential for those companies involved in a service oriented business, especially technology based companies. Those that don’t have a blog appear to customers as thought they are out of touch and unavailable to customers. Blogs can be connected to the company web site and can be made available to customers as well as employees. Company blogs should provide some interesting and useable information. Keep the posts short and to the point. Add some humor so the posts don’t seem so formal. Many companies use the blog as they used to use a newsletter. Since blogs are kept as archives, companies can keep important ones readily available for reading anytime. Company blogs do more for image than anything else; however, they can be used to generate income. Always provide a link to the company website as well as a link to the information page. Be careful who you allow to link to your site. Use the blog as a way to get your company name out there. Branding is an important marketing tool and the blog can be used to increase consumer awareness of your product or service. Always use your company logo or colors on your blog. This helps increase recognizability by customers. Make sure to read your posts before posting them and spell check them for errors. Remember that the blog is an extension of your company and if used properly can add to a positive image. Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone Pagina 26

Chapter 13 Blogging search engines
If you want to drive traffic to your site you will need to be rated with search engines. Search engines are the default method of finding sites on the Web. Getting your site rated high will help get it closer to the top of the results list when it is searched. Search engines have automated processes that check the Internet for new sites to include in searches. The sites also allow manual submission of new site information. There are several main search engines used for blogs. The most popular of these is Google.com and Yahoo.com. There are several other search engines as well, so be sure to submit your site to all of them. Keywords are words that are relevant to the content of your site. They explain your blog in several concise words or phrases. When you name your blog you should keep in mind that the name and any phrases along with it will be used to submit to search engines. Therefore, it may be helpful for the name of your blog to relate to your content so others can more easily find you. The sidebars and headers are places where the search engines will look for keywords. When using keywords first think about your site. Who will be visiting and what are they likely to search for when looking for a site like yours? You can hire a company to perform research or you can use your own knowledge and experience to guide you. Write down about 20 words that describe your site. Then try to narrow those down to the 10 most important words and phrases. Use these in your heading and sidebar. You can also use these key words to submit to search engines. When you submit to a search engine they will want your URL or address of your blog. This is a static address where your site can always be reached. They also need the title of your site along with several keywords that describe your site. Search engines also use Web crawlers. These tools regularly scour the Internet for new sites. They can add sites to the list using keywords directly from your site. This is why it is important to use keywords at the beginning of your site. Search engines rank sites. These rankings determine where your site will be located in a list from a search. Ideally, you would like your site to be listed on the first page of results. Rarely do users go to the next page of results from a search, even when there are sometimes hundreds of pages. Search engines use formulas to determine how popular your site is. The more your site is used on linked pages the better. And the more popular the sites it is linked from is even better. Try to get your blog listed on as many blogrolls as possible. This means you’ll need to have an interesting and compelling blog site that others will want to link to.

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Chapter 14 Blogging and RSS feeds
Blogging and RSS Feeds RSS feeds, short for Real Simple Syndication, allow users to view news feeds from blogs as well as from news services or other websites. The feed consists of headlines with short article summaries. If you find an article you are interested in you can click on it to activate the link to go to the full article. There are several other common feeds including a popular one called Atom. These feeds require a tool for use. RSS uses a tool called an aggregator to allow you to combine feeds from your favorite sites. You subscribe to RSS sites that will then be monitored by your aggregator. The aggregator will automatically find any updates on these subscribed sites and present them to you on one screen. You can set this up to review your favorite sites and blogs for fresh content. Each time one of your monitored sites is updated you will receive a notice with a headline. You can easily subscribe to RSS feed from any site that offers it. You can make changes to your list or unsubscribe to sites easily also. There are two main ways to view feeds, computer based or web based. A standalone computer based solution is a software program that is loaded onto your computer. These programs such as AmphetaDesk sit on your desktop and download feeds that are displayed in your browser. Your web browser may have built-in RSS functionality. This computer-based solution is becoming increasingly available as software providers see the need to include this ability. Web based aggregators allow you to subscribe to the RSS service such as Bloglines or Google Reader. With these services you create an account and log in to choose the feeds you want to monitor. The service then provides you with updated headers for any of your subscriptions. These services are less flexible than standalone solutions. One advantage is that they will allow you to view the page from any computer connected to the Internet. This can be helpful if you want to be able to view the page both from work and later from your home computer. If you want to offer your own blog for syndication you can create an RSS feed for your blog. This will allow others to subscribe to your blog and anyone with an aggregator can be alerted to any new posts when they are made. Most blog hosts will automatically create an RSS feed for your blog. This is available in the special features section of the blog creation area. New bloggers may want to use blog hosting instead of server based blogs because this feature is offered automatically with hosting sites. If your blog host does not provide an easy way to create an RSS feed for your blog you can still make one yourself if you know some coding language. There are websites available to help the user set these up. Be sure to provide a link for your RSS feed on your blog site.

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Chapter 15 Get indexed in Google with blogs
You can get your site indexed by blogging at Google’s blog site, http://blogspot.com Google’s Googlebots crawl this site every 1-2 days and pick up your links they follow them to your web page that you are showing and will index the page within 48 hours. It is a quick way to get information like articles indexed. Once your blog is published you can invite Google to visit and add your blog to its index. Send your URL (Web address) through the “submit your site” page at http://www.google.com/addurl.html. There are three important techniques to get your web site indexed: 1. Use the words that people will search for in order to find you (called keywords) throughout your site and in a meaningful way – especially in the title, headers, and first paragraph. 2. Get linked from other sites 3. Submit your site to Google Getting indexed is a way that others will be able to find your blog. This is important if you want your blog to be read by others. Some blogs are wildly popular while others are simply used for personal journals. Most people want their blogs to be shared with others. The more people you can get to read your blog the more successful your blog is. Each blog can have an optional visitor counter. This keeps track of how many hits or visits your site has received. To be listed with google, you will need to submit your main page. This page contains the information necessary for google to list the site. Listings are based on keywords that users will use when they perform an Internet search. The name of your blog is important in this search so you should make sure that the name contains some reference to the contents of the site. This makes it easily searchable on the Internet. Google will also allow you to input specific keywords that are associated with your blog. Google adds and updates new sites including blogs by using Googlebot, a web crawler. Web crawlers regularly find web sites on the Internet so that they can be included on their search database. It also eliminates dead links so they are no longer included. There is no need to submit multiple pages. If your website has more than one page only the top page or host page is used for inclusion in the index. You are also included in google submissions if you have a link from another site. This is why it is important to link with others who have similar types of sites. When linking with other sites always ask permission before including their link on your site. You can also post your blog URL or address with any comments you post on other blogs. The more sites you can successfully link with the more readers you will get to your blog. Finally, understand the importance of the use of keywords in your blog itself. Pay particular attention to the header and the title of the blog. Make sure that these areas Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone Pagina 29

portray a concise definition of what your blog is all about. Use terms exactly as they may be searched to achieve the optimum results. Name your blog with this in mind as well so that the name itself helps to achieve good search results. While random blog names may be fun, include some descriptive words that will aid in the search process.

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Chapter 16 Marketing your blog
If you have a blog that you are ready to share you need to start getting the word out. You want new readers to check out your blog. Hopefully they will like what they read and come back. By promoting your blog you can greatly increase your readership. There are many ways to promote your blog and many of them are not hard to do. Site Counters A really important part of marketing is determining how successful your blog is. Start by putting a visitor counter onto your blog. These are usually included free in the blog host package when you get your blog. These counters will measure visits to your site over specific periods of time such as over a day, a week or a month. Keep in mind that hits to your blog may register for each individual element of your blog so they are not an exact measurement of the amount of visitors you received. There are also subscription site counter services, which you can pay to subscribe to. These services provide more detailed visitor information and statistics including graphs and reports. You can also find out what other sites are referring visitors to your site. Site counters, even the basic ones, will help you find out how your blog is growing and helps you determine if a particular marketing strategy has been successful. Search Engines Search engines are the default method of finding everything online. Google, in particular, has become the standard search tool used throughout the Internet. To start with you should manually enter your blog site into the search engine. Search engines continually update their database by going out to sites and checking them. Sites are placed in search order based on keywords in your blog. Another factor in raising your search listing is through the number of sites linking to the results, or page ranking. To increase your page ranking your site will need to be linked from various sites. Some sites have higher weight than others based on their own popularity. The idea then is to get your blog linked from as many popular sites as you can. In order to get sites to link to you your blog must be enticing for them. It must be relevant to their own readership and provide some valuable information. A blogroll is used by bloggers to list their favorite blogs. You will want your blog to get listed in as many relevant blogrolls as you can. Building buzz There are many ways to create a buzz about your blog. With all the blogs out there it is not as easy as it may seem. Start by joining a blog ring. This is a community of bloggers who have similar interests as you. Aside from Google, there are other search engines that you should list your blog with. Look for them on the Internet and then submit your blog to them along with keywords that support your blog. Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone

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You can get your blog reviewed and put submit it for awards. Winning an award gives your blog respect and brings new readers to it.

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Chapter 17 How To Drive Traffic To Your Website With Blogs
Blogs can easily be used to help boost traffic to your website. There are several ways to use blogs to help you. Blogs are a relatively new phenomenon on the Internet and are now proving to be useful additions to websites. Blogs can be a great way to improve traffic while providing readers with information they can use. Write an informative blog Use a friendly tone when writing your blog, yet not too informal. The blog should provide useful information in a cleanly presented format. Stay away from cutesy colors and words, save those for your personal blog. Choose interesting topics that pertain to your business. Keep each post short. It should not exceed a page or so. This helps keep interest in your blog. Write in clear sentences with short paragraphs or key points outlined. Use Keywords Using keywords in your blog will help your site get listed on search engines and listed higher than other sites. Start by making a list of all the words and phrases you can think of that describe your site. List words that others might put into a search engine if they were looking for a site like yours. Narrow the words down to just the few most important ones and use these words in the title, heading and sidebar of your site. These keywords are picked up by web crawlers and are used to aid in listing your site with search engines. Submit to search engines The single most important thing you can do to promote your site is to make sure it is submitted to search engines. Include any and all search engines you can find but be sure to include google and yahoo, the two most popular search engine sites. These sites commonly send out web crawlers to search the Internet for new sites, however, to be sure that yours gets found it is best to submit. They will ask for the URL of your blog as well as to provide the title and some keywords that best describe your site. Advertise on blogs Use other blogs to advertise your blog. Provide a blogroll in your sidebar that lists your favorite blogs. Include those that can reciprocate. Choose blogs that are similar to yours in topic and format. You can also purchase advertising on other blogs through blog providers or sites such as Adsense. Create an image Use your blog to help create your company image. Use your company logo or graphics and colors on the blog to tie it to your web site. Branding is extremely important these days as a marketing strategy so always try to create a positive image around your company and product. Structure the blog to present a nice company image. Use the blog to provide information and low-key marketing. Always provide a link to your blog from your website. This allows users to the web site access to current information from your blog. Use RSS feeds Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone Pagina 33

Provide an RSS feed (Really Simple Syndication) on your blog site. This makes an easy way for readers to return. The RSS feed notifies readers whenever a new post is added to the blog. The feed give the user the headline and allows them to reach the site using one click. This subscription service is a great way to get regular readers.

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Chapter 18 Blogging and newsletters
Blogging and newsletters can go hand in hand to create a good marketing strategy for your business. Newsletters and blogs both have the same goal. They are trying to generate interest in the company while providing useful information. You can try using both a blog and newsletter to add readership to your sites. What are the differences and similarities between blogs and newsletters? • • • • • • • • •

Blogs use RSS feeds to distribute information while newsletters primarily use email. This is starting to change, however, as newsletters can use RSS feeds for distribution as well. Newsletters are usually written and distributed at regular intervals, typically monthly. Save the best articles and information for the newsletters. Include something in the newsletter that cannot be found online. Blogs are updated frequently – content can be added when needed making it timelier. Newsletters usually appear more formal because they are formatted while blogs seem less formal and more intimate. Blogs offer a good forum to provide up to the minute information while articles in newsletters are usually less time sensitive Blogs can be more interesting to read because they contain archives of all the posts Newsletters go out to those who have subscribed while blog readers need to come to the site to read the blog. People can join blogs at any time and can read all the posts that came before, keeping them in the loop. Blogs are in an easy to read format that involves scrolling rather than clicking on different pages. Readers of newsletters usually need to open the newsletter using a specific program that they need to install on their computer (such as adobe reader)

While there are many similarities between the two methods don’t be too quick to abandon one or the other. Many people are still skeptical of blogs and may regard them as less official than newsletters. The newsletter is relied upon for certain information and because of its usual format that information can be easily found by its readers. Used in tandem, the newsletter and the blog can compliment each other to reach the highest amount of readers. Be sure to include your blog address information in the newsletter so that people may look at it. Try to provide some information on the blog that is not available in the newsletter to keep people coming back. This should be easy because the blog lends itself to many posts throughout the month. As you use both methods you may find that you can pull plenty of pertinent information to fill your Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone

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newsletter right from your blog. This makes writing the newsletter much easier than it used to be. Include a link to your blog from your main web site. This will aid readers in using the blog format while new and interesting information will keep them returning. Continue to keep your newsletter going. The address list will continue to be important when doing email marketing campaigns and other correspondence.

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Part 3 Blogging information
Here are some miscellaneous facts about blogging to interest you.The more you know about blogging the easier it will be to write interesting enticing blogs to get others to visit your website etc.

Chapter 20 Why blog?
Blogging offers something for everyone and it can be different things to different people. There are millions of blogs with more being created each day. It is by far the most popular Internet tool used today. No matter what you intend to use your blog for, you will find it is an easy and interesting way to communicate on the Internet. You may find that your blog starts out in one direction and takes a turn in another direction. This is a common occurrence. Some people may have more than one blog, one for each of their different topics or hobbies. Diary / Journal The blog provides a diary that records the events of the day along with the bloggers’ thoughts at that moment. For many, the manual written diary or journal has been replaced by the blog. Throughout time people have enjoyed writing down their own thoughts and the blog makes an easy and fun way to do it. Friends A blog provides new friends with similar interests as you. You can read other blogs and link to them as well as get links to your site from others. You can also join a blog ring, which consists of a community of people with like thoughts. You may also meet new people through social blogs. Ease of Use Blogs are extremely user-friendly. The blog host sites offer templates and features that allow even a casual Internet user to create an instant blog. Blogs are much easier to use than full blown web sites because you don’t need to know anything about computer technology or computer language to use them. Fun Blogs are fun to use. They can be very addicting. Once people start using them they have a hard time stopping. People enjoy reading what other people write just as much as they like writing about thing. Business Companies have found that a blog can be a great help to their business. A blog can be used to communicate with customers and employees. It is a great tool for branding – getting their name known. A blog can also help drive business to their main site. Post thoughts and Views A blog is a way to express your thoughts and views to others. Many times just the action of getting your thoughts out there can be cathartic, giving you a feeling of exhalation or freedom. Posting thoughts on a blog is also a good way to relieve stress. Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone

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Expert A blog can be a good way to become better known in your field and to get known as an expert. Others may come to you or read your blog to learn information about your topic. As readership grows you may be asked to join expert panels. Family Page A blog is a great way to share information with other members of your family. The blog has taken over from the homepage as a method of communication among friends and relatives. You can post information as well as pictures, keeping everyone informed about what’s going on.

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Chapter 21 Blogging tools
There are some tools available to the blogger to help make your blog stand out. Before you start out you may want to spend some time looking at other blogs. This will give you an idea of what you would like your blog to look like as well as some features you want to include. It will also likely give you some thoughts on things you dislike on blogs and this will help you avoid these mistakes. Templates Most blogging hosts will provide you with a number of great looking blog templates that you can use for your blog. Choose a template that looks clean and free from distractions. You can customize the template by choosing colors and fonts that you like. Avoid busy fonts that tend to be hard to read. Visitors will leave immediately if they can’t easily read the post. Add graphics or pictures if you would like. Toolbar The top or side toolbar contains a group of tools needed for customization. Similar to your toolbar in Microsoft or other programs, the toolbar holds the keys to making changes within your blog. The toolbar will vary by provider, however most contain access to fonts and colors, posts, and sidebar additions. There is usually a help function as well, that gives you immediate access to the help section of the provider website. RSS / Syndication Always include an RSS feed button or link on your blog. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows readers of your blog to be informed when new items are posted to your blog. This great feature keeps people interested in your blog. The RSS give the user the headline of the blog post with a link to get there. Date and Time Stamp You can choose the way you would like posts to show the date and time. Pick the format that you like the best. Paypal Paypal is an Internet paying method that is the popular standard on the Web. Include a paypal button that links users to your paypal account. This can then be used to collect donations or money for items you may sell on your site. Popular items to sell are t-shirts or mugs with your logo on them. Counter Include a visitor counter to your blog. This will show you how many visitors there were to your site in a given period. Simple counters are usually included in free software. If you want more precise statistics there are counters you can purchase that provide you with graphs and reports about your site traffic. Sidebar The sidebar is the column next to the large section of posts. It can contain a lot of information. What you choose to display is up to you. Some popular items to put into Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone

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the sidebar are a bio with or without picture, a blogroll, a list of frequently asked questions, a link to blog archives, links to other websites, a search box and a calendar. Look at other blogs to determine what items you want to put into your sidebar. Try to not to clutter the sidebar with too many items.

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Chapter 22 History of blogging

The web log started in the early 1990’s as an online diary or journal. The modern blog evolved from forums on the World Wide Web, called newsgroups. Newsgroups are discussion forums, which are moderated. A user or administrator who can ensure that the posts are pertinent and proper for the forum moderates the posts. These newsgroups evolved as they started to include summary posts as well as links to other sites of interest on the Internet. These posts were the start of the online diary. Some of these sites began posting news releases as well as commentary that was meant for others to read. Early weblogs were actually regular websites, which were updated manually. As technical tools became available these sites were able to support posts made in reverse chronological order. The newest posts are automatically added to the top of the site. This is similar to the way email chronology works as well. The term weblog was first used in 1997 to mean a log maintained on the web. Several years later the term was shorted to “blog” which can be used as either a noun or a verb. Blogs began to be more widely popular as blog software became available that provided easy access to the blog format. Blog hosts provide templates for blogs so that anyone with any computer skills can set up and maintain one. Blogging combines the tools typically available with personal web pages with other tools to allow for ease of use. As the use of weblogs increased so did the availability of weblog search engines. This allows others with like interests to search through blog sites using keywords. In 2000 and 2001 some popular political blogs began to emerge. This helped to introduce blogs to many people who were not aware of them. By 2002 the term blog was familiar to most anyone who uses the Internet. Books about how to set up and maintain blogs started to appear. Blogs started to become an important news source as well as an outlet for popular opinion. Blogs have become increasingly popular. Some estimates show that there are millions of blogs on the Internet with more than 10,000 being added each day. Blogging sites have been increasing so rapidly that they are thought to double every six months or so. The ease of use makes them a fun and interesting way to communicate with others. Blogs are now used for many different reasons. Companies use blogs to communicate with their employees and customers. They also use blogs to promote their product or service as well as to make their name known. Personal blogs are used for individuals to talk about their lives and families. Political blogs are a way for people to voice their thoughts about politics. Blogs can contain pictures and videos. There are many available blog hosts who offer free blogs. It has never been easier to host a site on the web. As technology advances there will be more advances in blogs as well. Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone Pagina 41

Chapter 23 The vlog-The future of blogging with videos
The Vlog is a video blog, a blog using videos. While this type of blog is rather new there are many potential uses for it in the future. Vlogs use videos to record your thoughts instead of written text. They also incorporate sound or audio. Vlogs are a fun and exciting new medium to try when creating a blog. Because of the increase in ipod users the video log is fast gaining in popularity. You will need the proper equipment to make a vlog, specifically a video camera. The video will be downloaded to the vlog in much the same way as pictures are downloaded. A vlog is usually about 5 to 10 minutes in length at maximum. It can show anything at all, but common vlogs are music videos, how-to videos, such as cooking, and family or local events. Some vlogs are daily shows such as reactions to the news of the day. Vlogs are more informative than using texts with pictures because you can show essentially a short movie of the subject. This technology will make even casual users able to post video clips to the Internet. Vlogs can use web syndication to distribute the video over the Internet. Common syndication formats such as RSS or Atom allow for automatic retrieval and playback on the computer or through mobile devices. Users must be able to view the video by using a common video player software installed on their computer or device. There are currently no turn-key solutions for creating, publishing and hosting vlogs although is bound to change in the near future. As the Internet continues to become more sophisticated vlogs are sure to be more accessible. The increase of video capability, particularly on Mp3 players, is increasing the demand for the use of vlogs. There is a specific search engine dedicated to vlogs, called the Videoblog Directory. This is a great site where you can find, watch or even download vlogs. You can also subscribe to specific vlogs of interest to you. Vloggers should submit their vlog site to this search directory. As technology improves there will very likely be improved vlogging as well. The length of the vlog is almost certain to be able to be increased. Increased availability of users to connect to the Internet via high speed or broadband connections will allow more universal access to this type of format. Vlogs may become an important source of educational materials as a way for professors or teachers to disseminate additional lecture materials to their students. In the future, university students may receive their classroom lectures via vlogs or podcasts instead of having to attend in person. This technology could eventually change the way we attend school in the future. Vlogs are an exciting new way to share a blog. The vlog uses the same formats as the typical blog and presents videos in reverse chronological order. The user would have a vlog site, like a blog, that would be the structure for presenting the videos to readers. Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone Pagina 42

Chapter 24 Keep politics and religion out of your blog
Political and religious blogs have been increasing as people are striving to get their views heard. While these blogs may enjoy some moments of popularity, their very nature ensures that some people will find them distasteful. Keeping politics out of your blog allows you to remain unbiased and therefore keep your blog out of controversy. No matter what your political viewpoint is there will always be some who disagrees with it. There are no more heated battles than those regarding politics or religion. Political blogs are increasingly influential in the local and national politics. People are passionate about their ideas in regards to how they feel the nation should be managed and the blog is a place to let those views be heard. The problem is that the political blog causes great controversy. As the owner of the blog you may get embroiled in arguments and discussions that you would rather not be associated with. In a matter of several posts or posts by influential people on your blog you could get a bad reputation. Sometimes religion and politics come out in posts by others on your blog. Unless you invite debates you should try to steer the posts away from these topics. Religious topics are just as debated as politics. These are the two topics that everyone seems to have an opinion on. It may be because both these areas touch our lives and our families so closely. Blogging about either religion or politics will often defame you and will serve to reduce your status in the eyes of some. Your authority or area of expertise will be compromised by your political or religious views. Steer away from these topics if your site is designed to market a product or service or is affiliated with a particular company. If your blog references your workplace your employer may not take lightly your controversial blog. Likewise, if you work hard to get particular advertisers to place ads on your site they may be removed if your blog becomes too contentious. These are all considerations to make before adding political or religious comments or statements onto your blog. If you want to create a blog that give political or religious commentary make sure to keep your professional life separate from the blog. You will need to disassociate yourself from the blog to ensure that your do not create animosity at work or in your home life. Although blogs help to further our right to free speech, they also bring attention to us, sometimes in ways that could harm our reputations or us. In order to keep your blog free from the stress related to these subjects you can remove comments that are controversial from your blog. Occasionally some people will look for any blog they can to voice their opinions and often they don’t have anything to do with your site or the other postings. If you do have problems with others leaving improper postings you can make their posts invisible to others. This will take some of the energy out of their intentions. Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone

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Chapter 25 Blogging etiquette
While there are no true rules of etiquette for blogging, you should try to be professional. Often, new bloggers are unsure of any blog etiquette. Remember that blogging etiquette is subjective and there are no hard and fast rules. Here are some basic guidelines for proper blogging. • • Written words are subjective. There are many ways of dealing with things. Remember that the way something looks to you may not be the way it was intended, so try to have a positive outlook. Don’t post comments on other blogs just to promote your own blog. This is sometimes called blog-hogging and is frowned upon. Not only will your post get removed but it may actually cause others to speak badly of you or your blog site. Don’t post comments that disrupt the flow of conversation. Disjointed remarks make reading the posts difficult and irritating. Blogs are best when you can easily follow the conversation. If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it. While that holds true for all areas of life it is especially true for the blog. Words can be quite hurtful and just plain mean. If you want to express your opposing opinion, do it tactfully. Watch your choice of words so that you are stating your case as positively as possible. Don’t dis others – remember that they are entitled to their own opinions also. Link to original sources of information whenever possible. This will allow others to easily find the source of the information provided. Don’t add links to your site unless you let the owners know. This is common courtesy that is often overlooked on the Internet. Most often the other blogger will invite you to go ahead and use the link to their site. When mentioning other sites always provide a link. If you are going to talk about other sites use a link in your text so that others can easily go to it. Use link exchange forums to find usable links to put on your site. These can be very helpful for those bloggers who are new and may not have an established network of friends yet. Don’t use profanity or bad language, it isn’t necessary and is just plain rude. If you do feel the need to swear use x marks to blank out the word. Children may view your blog and adults may not appreciate your language. Be politically correct. Although you may want to express you opinion, you will be less offensive and appear more likeable if you can avoid negative slurs. Don’t spam blog. This is irritating and just plain bad behavior. It is the equivalent of littering on the Internet. Be mindful and courteous when posting comments. Even though you can easily hide behind your Internet façade make posts as though you were actually speaking to someone face-to-face. Political blogs often thrive on sharing different viewpoints, just be polite when doing so.

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Keep in mind that bloggers are human and have feelings and emotions. It is easy to forget that when sitting at a computer faced with only a keyboard and monitor. Think before hitting the enter key. Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone

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Chapter 26 Blogging Resources
There are many places to get information about blogging. Try to learn the basics before you get started. That way you will be sure to get the proper software and order the correct type of Internet connection. Internet Sites There are many resources on the Internet. Start with sites that offer blogging software. These sites usually provide a wealth of information. Check with several sites so that you get objective information. Other sites that have resources may not be affiliated with any one provider. Use a search engine to find reliable sources. Because blogging resource sites are so plentiful on the Internet a new blogger can easily get confused. Start with people you know. Ask them for recommended resources. Have them tell you what resources they used. Some of the blog host sites offer comprehensive documents that can be printed or read online. These can give you plenty of information on any aspect of blogging that you need to learn about. Blogs Other blogs are a good resource of information. They will give you a good idea of what you would like your blog to look like as well as provide you with some basic information about blogs in general. You can also find blogs that are about building blogs. These sites often offer good information from actual users. Some of the posts may be too technical for you if you are just starting out, so don’t let that intimidate you. Find easy to use tips and guidelines. Lists that use bullet points offer easy readability. Print out the best information or bookmark it for future reference. Learn by using other peoples recommendations. Books One of the best sources of blogging information is a book about blogging. It will allow you to follow along and give examples of how to set things up. You can get as complicated as you would like. Just be sure that you are looking at the most recent books published. Often the technology is changing faster than books can get to print, so always opt for the newest books you can find. Some of the best information can be found in e-books. These offer the information found in regular books with the convenience of reading on the computer or printing out at your own discretion. E-books are usually more current than print books because the information can be easily updated. Articles and E-Zines Magazine and e-zine articles are great sources of information on blogs. These can easily be found on the Internet or through your local library. Again, look for the most recent articles. Anything written more than 6 months ago is likely outdated because the technology is changing faster than that. Get a free cool wolf howl ring tone for your phone

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The main consideration when it comes to blogs or any other Internet information is the timeliness of it. Make sure that you are looking at the most recent information, particularly if you are using it as a guideline to follow along. When researching the requirements for software the timing is critical because newer versions may have different needs.

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Chapter 27 Build A Better Business Blog
Business blogging is the use of blogs to help further the goals of the organization. It can be used to help make your brand known as well as to spark general interest in your product or service. A blog can be a powerful marketing tool. An effective blog can help create a good company image and increase traffic to your web site. A business blog should be passionate, honest and interesting. Keep the blog on subjects you know about. Provide lots of good information that users will like to read. A good blog can help your marketing plan. It takes little time or money yet the return for the investment is great. To make sure that the business blog is an effective marketing tool for your company follow these simple tips. • • • • • • • • • • • • Update the blog frequently. This gives the readers new information at regular intervals and keeps them coming back for more. Everyday or every 2-3 days is ideal to keep up interest in your blog. Use a sidebar to link to archived posts. This gives new readers the ability to follow the blog posts back as far as they would like. Be honest in your posts. Honesty gains respect. Be careful, however, not to reveal company secrets. CEO posts are important. Whenever possible, get the company officer to provide the blog. This goes a long way towards gaining the respect and interest of readers. Make the posts human. Finding your voice is important when using business blogs. The tone should be official yet not sound preachy or stiff. Use humor when you can. Keep the information timely. This helps in keeping communication open and makes customers and employees feel comfortable. If there is anything newsworthy use the blog to post it before it is picked up by media. Corporate blogs may be maintained by employees or managed by a corporate communication department. Encourage internal communication by supplying a separate blog for employees. Let employees post questions or concerns via the blog, keeping the lines of communication open. An interesting blog will provide a closer connection with customers. A following will help get the company name out there and known. Use sidebars to link to calendars that give important information including upcoming events. Be sure to update the calendar as needed. Link the blog to the company website for improved readership. Often a blog is unknown so use your own website to get the customers to the blog. Keep posts to one page or less. Research shows that many Internet users move quickly from site to site. If your post is too long it will be skipped. Use short paragraphs to break up the text and make the post appear more appealing. Add pictures to the blog. Use relevant pictures to add more interest to your blog.

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Use your company logo and graphics to help create a uniform look between your website and blog. Look at the overall view of your blog and keep it looking sharp and crisp. A clean looking blog with interesting graphics and good posts provides a place that many people will like and gives a boost to your overall company image.

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Chapter 28 Tips For Making A Successful Blog
Blogs are a fun way to use the Internet. Whether your blog is for fun or profit, everyone wants his or her blog to be successful. With millions of blogs online and more added daily, not all of them will be popular. What will make your blog stand out among others? Here are some tips to help your blog become successful. • • • Choose a good name. In blogs, the name is everything. Most people don’t read past the name so it is important to make the name interesting, creative and relevant to the content of the blog. Choose a topic. The most successful blogs tend to be those that have a main focus or goal. Decide what you are best at or what interests you the most and build your blog around that theme. Submit your site to search engines. It is important that you get your blog listed with the most popular search engines. Although these engines send out web crawlers to gather site information you can also submit your site Url and keywords. Use keywords. Find the top 10 words that describe your site and use those words in the name and header of your site. Also submit these words to search engines. Get listed. Make sure your blog is listed with specific blog directories. These are arranged in many various categories so spend time to ensure that yours is listed properly. Join a blog ring. A blog ring is a community of bloggers with similar interests. You can use these groups to exchange blog listings on your sites. Become known as an expert. People seek out those whom they feel are authorities. Use your status to promote your blog. Provide useful information. People will return to your blog again and again when you provide interesting, useful and fun information. Use blogrolls. Blogrolls are lists of your favorite blogs and are usually listed on your sidebar. Let others know before you list them. Often they will list you on their sidebar also. Network with others. The more people you can network with the larger your potential audience. Word or mouth (or word of email) is still a huge factor in getting your blog read. Update your blog often. Blogs are meant to be updated frequently. The more you update the more readers will have a chance to get hooked. Use pictures. Posting pictures will add interest to your site. Use pictures that look good and pertain in some way to the posts. Add a biography. People like feeling connected to others and reading your biography will help them make a connection to you. Be yourself. People like blogs that are down to earth. Make sure you have some humor to keep the mood light and fun. Keep posts short. It is well known that the attention span of people on the Internet is very short. Make short posts that don’t require a huge amount of time to read. By keeping the posts to a page you eliminate the need for the readers to scroll the site. Pagina 49

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With these tips you can make interesting compelling blogs that your readers will not only enjoy reading but will entice them to follow your links and visit your website. This in turn will allow them to access your products and become your customers. The trick is to make your blog so interesting that your readers cannot wait to read more. This allows you to build up a strong following of avid readers.

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Conclusion
As you can see blogging is fun and is a wonderful way to express yourself. You can reach many people or just sound off after a hard day’s work; it does not really matter, just go out there and do it! Now you have everything you need to be a bonifide blogger. You can go out and express yourself, and even make a profit doing it. As you have seen you can literally save 1000s in advertising money and increase your sales. Advertising even online is not cheap and blogging offers a great way out of the rising costs of advertising your business. You can target your blogs to reach your own market to really get the most out of it. It is a sad fact that many people do not even understand the real meaning of blogging and cannot benefit, but you have the insider information, so go out and use it. Enjoy blogging for fun and profit!

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