SheBloggers

There’s a saying in marketing that it costs more to get a new customer than to keep the ones you have. The same may be true for bloggers. It pays to create a loyal following! Here are four tactics to help you achieve it.

#1 – Be consistent. People generally like to know what to expect, particularly when it comes to frequency of blog posts. If you commit to posting every day, then find a way to make it happen.

People create habits around their blog reading and if you’re not there for a couple days with a new post, you could lose readers – they get out of the habit of reading your posts.

#2 – Stay Focused. Your blog is presumably about a niche topic, it’s important to stay on topic. It’s easy to want to expand your ideas, particularly when you’re running out of ideas to write on. Stay on topic and you’ll keep your readers coming back.

#3 – Acknowledge comments and facilitate a discussion. One of the most rewarding aspects of owning a blog is when you’re able to create a meaningful discussion with your readers. This discussion starts with intriguing posts, comments you acknowledge with a thank you and a question. This gets the ball rolling.

#4 – Keep it interesting. Eye catching blog post titles pull them in and interesting content will keep them reading. Be funny, be provocative, be controversial, be valuable, be something and do it well.

Building a loyal blog following is the key to generating profits and creating a name for yourself in your industry. To learn more about how to capture the attention of your audience and to keep them hooked visit Blogging to the Bank.

“When I’m under the gun and I’ve got pressure on me, I don’t panic. I look for the right solution, and then I go for it.” -Magic Johnson

Coming up with valuable content week after week, day after day, can get old after a while and it can become quite challenging. Here are a few tips to help keep the wheels spinning and your blog growing.

#1  – Get organized. Do you ever notice that great content ideas come to you when you’re driving to the grocery store, taking a shower or waiting in line at the bank?  Keep a notebook with you or a recording device and capitalize on these inspiring moments. Then, as soon as you get home or to a computer, draft a quick blog post on that idea so it doesn’t disappear.

#2  – Capitalize on creative moments. When you’re having a good writing day, do more than pat yourself on the back for a good post, take advantage of your momentum and write several posts at once.

#3 – Keep a file of blog ideas. As mentioned in #1 blog ideas come to us at the most inconvenient times. Keep a log of your ideas in a file on your computer or at least on a notebook you keep on your desk. Now, when you’re stumped for an idea, you can simply open your notebook and pick the one on top.

#4 – Borrow. If you keep up on industry publications, blogs and data then you can borrow from these resources to create a quick post.  You can start your post with something like, “Today in the New York Times” or “I read a blog post this week about…here are my thoughts.”

Content is the essence of any blog – you can’t have one without it. However, creating blog content doesn’t need to be a full time job. There are time management and content development strategies that can save you tons of precious time and money. Visit Blogging to the Bank to learn more.

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Thoughts are things! And powerful things at that, when mixed with definiteness of purpose, and burning desire, can be translated into riches.” -Napoleon Hill

Imagine committing to a daily blogging schedule, that means you not only have 7 blog posts due each week, you have approximately 30 each month and 365 posts a year. That’s a lot of blogging. However, it is a great blogging schedule and with a few tips and tricks, you can easily create that much blog content and more!

#1  Know that there are many types of blog content. It doesn’t have to be an argumentative essay. You can write:

• How to’s
• Reviews
• Lists
• Tips
• Pros & Cons

You can also create a blog series, write one longer article and break it up into smaller parts for several posts.

#2 – Audio and video messages. Instead of worrying about what to write, sit down at your webcam and create a quick audio or video message. Make sure it has a purpose and that you’re easy to see and understand. And because these messages shouldn’t be longer than a few minutes, you can create almost a month’s worth of content in an hour.

#3 – Let someone else write it. Ghostwriters, PLR – Private Label Rights, and Guest Bloggers are great for filling in the content gaps.

#4 – Repurpose your content. If you have reports and ebooks handy that you own the rights to or have written yourself, repurpose sections of this content to create new posts.

#5 – Fill in some days with questionnaires, surveys, contests and the like. These are interactive posts that require you to create the form but the rest is done by your readers.

Blogging doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, many successful blogs were set up and going strong in a manner of days. To learn a proven step by step method for building a successful blog visit Blogging to the Bank.

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” -Walt Disney

Personality marketing is a marketing strategy recommended by well respected experts around the globe. And blogging is generally one of the most personal mediums in business.

However, personality marketing and blogging, while they do go hand in hand, don’t necessarily mean airing your dirty laundry for all to see. You can go too far.

So how personal should you get?

Well, any personal information you share should at the very least, relate to your niche industry. If, for example, your blog is about photography equipment and you write a post and share what you had for dinner last night, first that’s not very interesting. Secondly in this case, you should at least have a good picture of your meal and talk about how to photograph food in the post.

The personal information needs to relate to your blog or its irrelevant and TMI- too much information.

The goal of being personal is to connect with your readers, however, it’s important to always keep in mind how exactly will your information help your reader?

There are simple personal touches you can add to your website that help build a connection and don’t go over the line. They include:

• A professional photo
• Audio and/or video welcome message so they can see you and/or hear your voice.
• Social networking links and invitations to follow or friend you
• Your personal views and ideas on topics related to your niche
• Your personal story in relation to your niche market (how you got into business, why, etc.)

Blogging is about building a community, about becoming the resource to go to in your industry. To learn more about how to connect with your readers and build an audience visit Blogging to the Bank.

“In the new economy, information, education, and motivation are everything.” -Bill Clinton

Looking to boost your blog traffic?  Here are three quick and easy tactics to get the job done!

#1 – Incite controversy. Controversy attracts readers, it motivates links and it breeds discussion – all of which are great for boosting blog traffic. Go ahead, stir the pot!

#2 – Give your readers more of what they want. This means paying attention to the posts that receive the most comments, the posts that receive the most readership and click throughs and the posts which are re-published or emailed most often. Track this data and give your readers more of what they want.

#3 – Be interesting!  Give your readers a variety of content including audio and video posts.

Here are a few other ideas:

Ask your readers to post questions and answer them.

• Host a contest.
• Have a guest blogger
• Offer a survey
• Review a product or service
• Talk about current trends in your industry

The more traffic you have, the more profits. To learn more about proven methods to drive traffic to your blog visit Blogging to the Bank

“Fear melts when you take action towards a goal you really want.” -Robert G Allen

One of the biggest challenges to creating a successful blog is coming up with regular blog post ideas. Here are 7 strategies to keep your content fresh and interesting.

1.  Read magazines – magazines are great for spinning information in a million different ways. Reading industry magazines will help you tap into the general public’s awareness and will help you come up with unique and fresh ways to look at ideas.

2.  Read other blogs –  other blogs in your industry or complimentary industries will help you generate fresh ideas for your own blog. You may decide to elaborate on a post written by someone else or take an opposing position.

3.  Read industry publications – online publications like newsletters, whitepapers, case studies and the like are a great way to stay informed. You can write content about the data and information presented in these documents which helps establish your credibility and authority, it provides value and it helps generate a continuous stream of useful content.

4.  Have a brainstorming/planning session – sometimes just letting go of all the outside distractions and allowing yourself to think out of the box can generate hundreds of new and unique blog post ideas. Set time aside to brainstorm.

5.  Pay attention to forums and chat rooms – discussions on industry forums and chat rooms often generate some controversy but they also present new ideas, questions and room for elaboration on points you find to be valid or interesting. Use these sites to help you generate fresh content.

6.  FAQs – what questions do you commonly hear from others? These make for great blog posts.

7.  Ask your readers what they want to know – If you don’t know what to write about, ask your readers what they want to know.

Content is essential for a profitable blog. To learn more about what types of content work best and how to make money blogging visit Blogging to the Bank.

“This may seem simple, but you need to give customers what they want, not what you think they want. And, if you do this, people will keep coming back.” -John Ilhan

A blog without an audience operates in a void. To grow an audience you do need to have some degree of patience. However, in addition to patience, planning and action also help to market your blog and drive traffic.

Here are a few useful tips to market your blog successfully:

#1 – Comment on other relevant blogs. One great way to start getting your name recognized is to post useful and insightful comments on blogs which relate to your industry and are where your potential readers might hang out.

Get active in the blogging community. When you post create a profile that enables you to link to your blog. Many people will click through and subscribe to your blog.

#2 - Guest blog. Guest blogging is wonderful marketing tactic and like commenting on other blogs, is builds awareness for you and your blog.

#3 - Post consistently and post often. This is where patience comes in. Posting regular and valuable content will help your blog to grow, to be recognized by other movers and shakers in your industry and will motivate people to link to you.

#4 – Make it easy for readers to Digg, Tweet, StumbleUpon and post your content on Delicious.com. Social networking is growing and it pays to take advantage of this useful medium.

#5 – List your blog with relevant directories. Registering with some notable directories can help boost your traffic and put you in front of people who are looking for your information.

If you want people to become aware of your blog, marketing it is essential. For more information on how to market your blog, drive traffic and build a large subscriber list visit Blogging to the Bank

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” -Jeff Bezos

It’s not enough to simply have a blog, your blog needs to have some sort of impact – you want to stand out – so you attract readers, subscribers and ultimately profits.

Here are a few tips to make sure your blog is the best it can be:

Tip #1 – Be personable. Each blog post is a unique opportunity to connect with your audience. Make them laugh, make them cry, inspire them and motivate your readers. In addition to your blog content, your blog design also impacts the connection you make. Include photos of yourself, audio and video blog posts and even the colors, layout and images you choose will help create a personality.

Tip #2 - Make your blog easy to read by adopting user friendly formatting, fonts and type size. Images, short paragraphs and subheadings also make your content much easier to read.

Tip #3 - Provide superior content. While your blog posts can be entertaining they must also provide value, educate, and inform.

Tip #4 – Mix it up. Use audio, video and print content to keep your blog active and interesting.

Tip #5 – Take advantage of useful widgets and plug-ins. For example, if you participate on Twitter or Facebook you can include a widget that prompts blog readers to  follow you or one that posts your Twitter conversations on the side bar of your blog.

Tip #6 – Market your blog. Use blog directories, social networking, search engine optimization and other marketing tactics to drive traffic to your blog and build readership.

Tip #7 – Encourage comments. Active blogs are well read blogs. To encourage participation and comments, ask questions, acknowledge comments and encourage discussion.

Finally, blog consistently. This is paramount to a successful blog. Utilize PLR, guest bloggers and your own content to keep the posts consistent and up to date.

For more information on key strategies to give your readers what they want and build a successful, and profitable blog visit Blogging to the Bank.

“If you’re attacking your market from multiple positions and your competition isn’t, you have all the advantage and it will show up in your increased success and income.” -Jay Abraham