ive never understood blogs

Money_mike · 10-16-2006, 03:38 AM

ive read alot about blogs lately and ive never really understood how they work. I get that they are just like web journals, but why would anyone ever look at my blog i mean its just news about me and a bunch of junk. So why would people go to my blog and then go to my site? And why wouldnt i just do something else that may be more productive?

Sorry i just never really understood them

Jeff
<you may place up to two links in your signature>

WillL · 10-16-2006, 03:41 AM

blogs can be better then sites. Blogs publish content. Blogs ain't just about teenages life's...

some good blogs , www.shoemoney.com www.jensense.com

**Cricket** · 10-16-2006, 03:43 AM

Blogs can be about anything you want them to be. I was asked a similar question recently on one of my blogs.

Here is what my answer was --

Someone once told me that the surest way to true success was to find something that I absolutely love doing, and then find a way to make a living doing it. It was without a doubt the best business advice I have ever received.

If you are passionate about a particular topic, you might want to simply consider developing a professional informational website or blog focused entirely on that topic.

Once you have a handle on that, you might consider adding a program such Google AdSense or a few highly relevant affiliate ads to get you started.

By allowing yourself the chance to explore all the different avenues of those things you most enjoy, opportunities just seem to start presenting themselves to you quite naturally. Over time, you may just find your niche evolving into a highly successful online business.

Money_mike · 10-16-2006, 03:51 AM

ok well my next question then is how do i promote a blog, i mean i ahve enough trouble just promoting and getting people to come to my website. So how am i supposed to get a lot of people to go to my blog?

Jeff
<you may place up to two links in your signature>

WillL · 10-16-2006, 03:59 AM

get good content.. my blog has only been up days and already getting good traffic.. I use www.digg.com...

**Cricket** · 10-16-2006, 04:01 AM

The first thing you want to do is add the RSS feed of your blog to your profile here so that your recent posts show up under your name, like you see one of my blogs to the left side of this message in the area under my name, just below my post count.

Just click on User CP up near the top left of this page, then scroll down to Edit Profile. Clear at the bottom of that page you can add your RSS feed.

You can also have up to two signatures in your posts here, so make one of them your blog. To add your signature just click on User CP again, and then Edit Signature. You can add your information there.

If you write quality content people will start linking to you quite naturally, which will of course start the process of promoting your blog. There are also a ton of blog directories out there that you can submit to.

Julie · 10-16-2006, 07:19 AM

Good advice, Cricket.

chicgeek · 10-16-2006, 07:23 AM

Mike, I have edited yout URLs out of your posts.

You are entitled to have up to two links in your signature. Please use that for your URLs instead.

A.N.Onym · 10-18-2006, 06:44 AM

Most likely, just having a job in what you love doing is gonna make you more money than blogging.

Having and maintaining a blog requireas as much effort as any other job. Don't expect to spend less energy or time to get the same amount of money, really. In the end, it is the joy you received while making the money.

loon · 10-18-2006, 09:12 PM

How to promote your Blog (for FREE!)
We decided to help you promote your blog, because blog without traffic, or people who will read your messages is nothing, isnt it? ;-)

Lets start with excellent 8 steps to promote a blog written by by Jonathan Briggs

1. Write regular interesting content

This might seem obvious but people will only come back if they think your writing is interesting. Choose a topic or set of ideas to discuss regularly. Get people commenting and make sure that you comment back. Regularity is also important. You need to set a tempo for your activity so that people can tell whether to come back every day or only once a month.

2. Think about your keywords

Many of your visitors will simply fall over your site as part of a Google search. You will be found on words and phrases that you use in your postings. So make sure that you use the words you want to be found under.

3. Provide content that other people will link to

Many blogs simply contain diary entries that describe issues of the day and these are less likely to be linked to than issue pieces and “how to’s”. Other sites are more likely to link to permanent features than regular diary entries.

4. Use keywords in your links and titles

The words you use must go deeper than simply your content. Use the same words in your links; much better to use “active citizenship” as a link rather than “click here”. Make sure that your message titles contain your keywords too. You would be surprised how many sites simply have the site name for every page!

5. Encourage people to come back

Commenting is an essential part of blogging; turning publication into conversation. Anything you can do to remind people that you are still around is good!

6. Comment on other people’s blogs

Who else writes stuff that impresses you about the same sorts of topics and ideas? Find other blogs and make comments on their postings. You will normally be able to provide a link back to your blog and if you are saying interesting things then some people will come to your site. It will take time and effort to find appropriate and interesting places to get involved but eventually you will end up as part of a network of connected blogs.

7. Get listed in the blogging directories

There are a number of web log directories and while these are unlikely to drive vast numbers of visitors simply because they are not Google, they do provide some useful inbound links that will affect your search engine rankings. We collected list of blog directories for you - feel free to submit your blog to all of them:

Hope this will help u

A.N.Onym · 10-19-2006, 04:45 AM

Basically, all the blogging tips come down to:
- select a niche you'd love to blog about
- post interesting, engaging, entertaining, useful, amuzing, etc, stuff
- get engaged with your industry community via forums, blogs, local meetings, etc (more on social networking).

Then, if you are patient, in a half a year you should get some following. In a year, you may be known in the industry. In a couple of years, if you keep it up, you'll be well known and will be able to reap the rewards.

Generally, as I said before, don't expect to make more money you'd make with a real life work - learning the ropes in any job takes a couple of years, at least.

Then again, if you don't understand blogging, you'd rather read other blogs, first.

IslaScotts · 10-24-2006, 12:45 AM

My question is what do you do when you can't find blogs that are remotely close to what yours is about? How do you go from there. I can't get links from other people in the niche because there isn't one and I can't comment on someone elses if there are no blogs that are similar. And key words... god the only one I can think of is social experimentation.. or social engineering. Who in the heck is gonna look that up!!

A.N.Onym · 10-25-2006, 06:41 AM

Isla, try broadening the topic of your search. There should be blogs about social psychology, human interaction, mass (or crowd - what's the term?) psychology, etc.

Go to the Google Keyword External Tool and see related searches people made. Searching for '~social engineering' or '~social expirementation' inGoogle might yield some results as well.

Generally, your best bet would be to keep producing content and interacting with entities, involved in broader areas of your industry (psychology, I guess?). However, there may as well be those blogs that use synonyms.

You can also offer to create and moderate a 'social engineering' section on any established and trusted related forum. This way you get targeted following and a place to share your ideas.

Oh right. You can also guest blog on the blogs that are the closest to yours. You can also write quality articles for publication and offer them to established magazines in your industry. There have to be your topic online and offline magazines. If not, you are in luck in a way you can be the only source on the topic. In this case, you'll have to contact related publications.

WillB · 10-26-2006, 05:57 AM

Blogs were originally about keeping journals (hence the name.. web logs), but these days they are turning into a business model.

Some people are still blogging in the traditional sense, but have ads and partnership programs to bring revenue.

Some others are starting blogs simply because they're free (Blogger) and easy to manipulate. Then they post tons of articles and cram them with PPC ads.

There are even tools appearing to automate this process.. I don't like the direction it's going in. Free blog platforms are bringing about a new wave of spam.

Anyway.. I have some tips in my sig to get traffic, and even blog content - so that your blog can be *real*

Richie_Ni · 10-26-2006, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Money_mike

I get that they are just like web journals, but why would anyone ever look at my blog i mean its just news about me and a bunch of junk. So why would people go to my blog and then go to my site?

I guess they like you very much and wanted to know about you.So...

Kitchen Designer · 10-26-2006, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Money_mike

ive read alot about blogs lately and ive never really understood how they work. I get that they are just like web journals, but why would anyone ever look at my blog i mean its just news about me and a bunch of junk. So why would people go to my blog and then go to my site? And why wouldnt i just do something else that may be more productive?

Sorry i just never really understood them

I used to think the same way. Then I tried it now I am hooked.