People have been writing diaries and logs about their experiences since man could write. So it was kind of natural that as web-based technology developed, the internet became a popular medium for sharing thoughts and ideas. Indeed the Technorati 2009 report on blogging says that that over 133 million blogs have been created since 2002! That's amazing. The Blogosphere covers every discussion topic imaginable and the ease with which blogs can be created means that information flows freely. This information flow can be very powerful and as the report mentions, has the potential to influence world opinion on current events.
But it is only over the last few years that internet marketers have recognized that "web-logging" or blogging can also be used effectively as a powerful internet marketing tool. Many reasons motivate bloggers to continue writing but from our perspective, it was interesting to note from the report that 61% of bloggers do so in order to supplement their income and professional blogging is gaining in popularity and this trend is expected to continue in 2010 as more business owners become familiar with what is needed to use a blog successfully in your overall marketing and business promotion strategy.
Business blogs work. A recent survey conducted by the popular Online Marketing Blog shows that 90% of surveyed companies with active blogs find that this technique improves their SEO rankings and directly or indirectly positively impacts their marketing efforts.
What are the main issues in successful blogging? Here are our findings?
- Converse with and engage your audience: One of the most important requirements for building a successful blog is to shown some passion about your chosen topic. It doesn't matter if you're selling a Clickbank product, an MLM opportunity or your own product, your first and foremost aim is to engage your audience by providing them with quality content. If you're not really interested in the topic, that's going to be hard to maintain over time.
- Don't bluntly advertise: Successful bloggers aim to build a list of followers or subscribers that like and trust them. Then they can promote products to this list. If all you are doing is directly promoting your end product right from the beginning, most of your first time viewers are not going to stay on your page very long.
- Update your blog regularly. Depending on your topic and work load this may sometimes be easier said than done. But it is important. There is however debate about what "regular updating" means - daily, several times a week or several times a month. Certainly regular updates are good for SEO puposes, but you have to feel comfortable with your rate of contributions. In the long run, fewer, but good quality posts and going to be more successful that frequent posts that don't really contribute much to your readers.
- It can take some time before you see results. There is no set time before which you will see financial rewards from your blog. In the Online Marketing Blog survey mentioned above, 94% of company responders saw measurable SEO benefits from their blogs within 12 months while 54% of respondents reported this took only 3 months. The actual time is takes will depend on your niche market, your competition and the standing you develop within your market community. Clearly, if you continue to post dependable, quality content, your readers are going to be interested in the products you offer on your blog site.
- Monetization methods. Which leads us to methods to monetize your blog. This too will depend on your niche and blog topic. Company blogs will obviously promote their products and so will you if you have your own product(s) or network marketing opportunity to promote. As long as this is done alongside your actual blog posts, you will be fine. Many bloggers who are just offering information or guidance on a topic will promote affiliate products or have paid advertising on the site. Many professional bloggers earn substantial incomes from this strategy.
- You don't need to be a techy to succeed:. Blogging is one of the most low-cost, low-technically demanding promotion and marketing strategy around. There are a number of free, open-source or low cost software packaged around which do not require you to be technically savvy. The most popular ones are Wordpress, Blogger and TypePad, but other more sophisticated packages are also available.
- Integrate blogging with other strategies: Blogging should not be your only marketing strategy. While it can be a very powerful tool, it is best integrated with other marketing strategies like articles, email and website SEO.
Blogging should be fun. Don't worry that your blog posts may not win you the Pulitzer prize. Write about what interests you. If you what to enter a field you are not yet familiar with, then read and learn about it. You will soon know far more than most of the people visiting your site. Blogging is a process and as long as you persevere, you'll grow with your blog as it grows in popularity. Writing can be catchy!
Happy blogging.
To your success,
Mike Firer
NimdX Admin
