VA Business Coaching Blog » blogging

Generate Free Blog Traffic With Blogger Forums

Jeannine Clontz — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:54:26 +0000

Blog forums are a great place to start generating free traffic for your blog. Because of the obvious shared interest in the topic, blog forums create new interest and grow your following.

Some of the better known blog forum sites are: Blogger Forum, Bloggeries and Blogst Forum. A basic Google search will yield vast numbers of forum sites; it’s worth checking to see how active any forum is prior to registration, so you are joining the busiest, most popular groups.

Be certain to carefully read any forum rules prior to posting and abide by them. Also, don’t alienate potential visitors by submitting multiple posts just containing the link to your blog.

You are not limited to advertising your blog link or accumulating traffic on these forums; you can ask others to point out its positive and negative aspects; ask people to critique the style, layout and content.

Bear in mind opinions may widely differ, but it doesn’t mean something is bad if one or two people don’t like a particular aspect – it could be a matter of personal taste. However, if you consistently get negative comments about certain parts of your blog, take the time to think about what changes you can make to improve them.

Return the favor and critique other blogs. Not only are people more likely to help you if they see you are willing to reciprocate, by viewing lots of blogs you get an idea of what works and what doesn’t and you’ll learn to more objectively view your own.

Reading forum posts allows you to pick helpful tips and tricks from other blog owners on topics like content, advertising and affiliate marketing. Absorb as much information as possible and make notes on anything of interest; then implement them to make your own blog more successful.

Don’t expect to post your link on a few forums and quickly gain hordes of traffic – you will only get out as much as you are prepared to put in. Advertise your blog on as many forums as you can to gain maximum exposure and you will be rewarded with a steady increase in traffic.

Jeannine Clontz, owner of Accurate Business Services, a VA practice, is an author, writer, speaker and VA Business Coach specializing in providing professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s). For her FREE audio CD “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?”, a 2-month trial in her Insider group coaching program, or 1-month trial of her coaching club visit: http://www.VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

Generate Free Blog Traffic With Blogger Forums is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Blogging for Business (Part Two)

Jeannine Clontz — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:50:29 +0000

In Part One we discussed blog basics, promotion and whether or not it was a worthwhile endeavour.

Continuing along those lines, and equally important to your website, a blog will also require a bit of SEO (search engine optimization), carefully chosen keywords and tags, as well as, listings with directories and indexes such as Technorati, StumbleUpon, or Digg, just to mention a few. Reading and responding to other people’s blogs is also a big part of the bogging community. However, to gain a wide readership you either have to have something reasonably spectacular to offer or a lot of time to spend on promotion.

Blogging Hazards

Blogging has been found to get people into trouble. Blogging about work regularly opens the door to disaster. The award-winning police blogger known as Nightjack was outed by the press and subjected to disciplinary proceedings. In another case, insults about a model led to the disclosure of the blogger’s identity and legal action. Exposing your personal life can be dangerous, even if you remain anonymous.

So Why Blog?

If you’re able to walk the walk and talk the talk, blogging can propel your career or become a satisfying pastime. Used as a business tool, in tandem with other social media marketing, a blog can help expand your reach and help to promote your product, service or views. A blog allows you to show the ‘human’ side of your business and keep your search engine rankings high with what they highly value, FRESH content.

A hundred million people regularly follow blogs. The blogosphere may not be what it used to be, but when used in the business arena, as a part of a larger marketing effort, it can be a powerful tool for getting your message out to the masses. It can be as versatile as a website without any added expense.

As long as you consider both sides of the equation, having a blog is a great way to express yourself and build a following. So make a little history of your own, take your business to the next level by utilizing a blog.

So, share your blogging experiences. How have you been using your blog and what can we think of to take it up a notch? BAM!!

Jeannine Clontz, owner of Accurate Business Services, a VA practice, is an author, writer, speaker and VA Business Coach specializing in providing professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s). For her FREE audio CD “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?” or a 2-month trial in her group coaching program visit: http://www.VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

Blogging for Business (Part Two) is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog

Benefits of WordPress for Blogs & Websites

Jeannine Clontz — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:57:31 +0000

As the Internet evolves from its technology to its software, and changes the way we communicate, it has opened us to a whole new world of social media. Blogging is one such evolving method of communication, and WordPress is one of the foremost accepted platforms for people wanting to get into the blogging action.

Evolving Software

WordPress is free, web-based software that is open source, which means it is available for developers to build upon and alter at will. Over time, its open source flexibility has allowed WordPress to become a content management system (CMS), or a program that creates, edits, and manages website content as well as blog content.

The best part about WordPress is that it doesn’t require knowledge of PHP or HTML code to use it. The blog or website creator chooses the look and rearranges the content simply and without rebuilding whole pages through the code.

While utilizing WordPress to build a website is possible, my preference is to maintain separate platforms for my website and blog by using traditional website development options. I believe it allows me to take advantage of different options, and search engine optimization methods to capture as many prospects as possible.

Themes and Plug-ins

WordPress has a theme system that allows for easy customization for your blog allowing the creator to change the look of the site as often as they like. WordPress also has features that assist with link management, complex indexing of blog posts, and the ability for multiple authors to add blog or site content. WordPress works well with other blogging services like Trackback and Pingback as well as easy importing of content from other blogs. WordPress also has security features such to control spam and visitor comments, user registration, and password protection for selected posts. There are also hundreds of compatible plugins available that can greatly extend the functionality.

WordPress for Business and Pleasure

WordPress started as a communication tool for the individual, but it also has many benefits to offer to the business world. Since WordPress is so simple to use and maintain, this means less overhead and less time spent for creation and maintenance of the blog platform. The blogging aspect of WordPress also means that companies have an on-demand method for keeping their audiences updated on company business and advertising their products and services. Plus, blogging offers a wonderful method for companies to get feedback from their consumers. It allows you to keep the content fresh, which increases search engine ranking so that the company’s content will have a better chance of audience exposure.

Everyone’s Doing It

With the popularity of social media and the flexible program, ease of installation, and added functionality of plug ins, WordPress provides a way for everyone to be involved and engaged in social media, and utilize the benefits it provides to your overall presence on the Internet.

Jeannine Clontz, owner of Accurate Business Services, a VA practice, is an author, writer, speaker and VA Business Coach specializing in providing professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s). For her FREE audio CD “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?” or a 2-month trial in her group coaching program visit: http://www.VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: coach@VAbizcoach.com.

Benefits of WordPress for Blogs & Websites is a post from: VA Business Coaching Blog