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by Stephanie Ward
Blogging is really hot and yet many people still have no idea what it is or what it’s for. I
usually get one of two responses when I tell people that I recently launched a blog: ‘A what?’ or
‘Great, where can I find it?’
It seems people are either completely aware and involved with blogging or unaware of its existence.
Don’t be left behind and miss out on a fabulous opportunity to connect with more potential clients
and partners.
Some people have heard about blogs and have a negative impression of them. Yes, there are people
who have blogs that consist of nothing more than an on-line diary that documents their ordinary,
daily life activities. This is NOT what I am talking about. I want you to use blogging to promote
your business!
Highly respected business leaders and writers like Debbie Weil, Tom Peters, Seth Godin, and Malcolm
Gladwell as well as large corporations have blogs, so why not you?
How blogging benefits your business: * Gain additional exposure to prospective clients and the
media * Drive traffic to your website * Positions you as an expert and your business as the
solution
There are several ways to get involved with blogging. Start where you feel comfortable and choose
any, or all, of these options:
1. Start reading interesting blogs
2. Comment on others’ blogs
3. Begin your own blog
READING BLOGS Think about authors of books you like and see if they have a blog.
What about your industry, who are the leaders? Do they have a blog? You can search technorati.com
which is a search engine similar to Google which is specifically for blogs.
So how do you know when the blogs you like have new information for you to read? You can download
software to your computer although I recommend two other options. One is a web based ‘reader’ which
simply entails going to a website (newsgator.com and bloglines.com are examples) and signing up and
then selecting blogs you are interested in. The other option is to receive notification of your
favorite blogs via e-mail by signing up at each blog you like. You can always do a combination of
both.
COMMENTING ON BLOGS After each entry on a blog there is usually a link at the end
that says, you guessed it, ‘comments’ and if you click on it you can type in your thoughts on the
topic. Some blogs allow you to post your comments immediately and others preview your comments
before posting.
When you write interesting comments to blogs, you gain exposure because you ‘sign’ your comment by
adding a link to your website, your e-mail address, or to your own blog.
START YOUR OWN BLOG There is a ton of free information on the internet about how
to start a blog so I won’t go into the details here. Trust me, I’m no technical wizard so if I can
do it, you can too. You don’t have to design anything, most blog hosts provide a wide selection of
templates you can choose from.
You can choose a free blog host like blogger.com or wordpress.com. I chose an inexpensive paid blog
host, Typepad.com, because it is important for me to have access to technical support.
It is critical to decide on the focus of your blog and stick to it. I love Typepad.com's tag line,
“Inform. Influence. Inspire.” What could the purpose of your blog be?
Ideas for the focus of your blog: - Specific aspects of your business that are not covered on your
website - Case studies, tips, or articles - Trends in your industry
With a blog, it is super easy to add new entries whenever you want. For a blog to be effective it
is important to post frequently, at least once a week. Think about it, how often do you update or
change the information on your website? Probably not often even if you are able to make changes
yourself. Many business owners rely on a webmaster to make changes which makes the process even
more complicated.
When your blog is ready, be sure to tell people about it and add it to the blog search engines
which are easy to find on the internet. You can also add a link to your blog on your website,
e-mail signature, and business cards! Are you starting to catch the blog fever? I caught it, here’s
my blog http://successtipsforlife.typepad.com .
Don’t delay, get out there and start reading blogs, adding comments to others’ blogs, and hopefully
launching a value packed blog for your business in the very near future!
(c) 2006 Stephanie Ward
Stephanie Ward may be contacted at http://www.fireflycoaching.com stephanie@fireflycoaching.com
Click here to view more of Stephanie Ward's articles.
Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!
Grab your copy of the FREE Special Report '7 STEPS TO ATTRACT MORE CLIENTS IN LESS TIME’ plus free
monthly business building tips at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com .
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