Archive for Blogging
You’ll never get bloggers block again with this list!
Posted by: | CommentsEveryone gets ‘bloggers block’ at some time, and it seems like the longer you put off making that post, the worse it gets. Here are the first five in over forty ideas for blog posts that I’ll be posting here. Just don’t forget to check back next time you’re stuck for something to write on your blog 
.
How your blog can make you famous
Posted by: | CommentsBlogging for Fame & Fortune is a how-to book written by Jason R. Rich. He is the author of many bestselling books on e-Commerce, computers, personal finance and other topics. In addition, he also contributes many articles to national newspapers, magazines and websites.
In his book he introduces the reader to blogs, vlogs, podcasts and webcasts. Chapter 1 talks about Blogging 101, the benefits, goals and expectations etc. Chapter 2 gives the reader advice on which equipment, internet and software they need to get started. In the following chapters Jason Rich informs the reader on how to choose a blogging service, how to create a blog, the importance of the design and appearance of blogs, 101 proven topics to blog about to attract attention, and creating a successful blog.
Other topics in his book include vlogging (webcasting), how to drive traffic to the blog, how to use your blog as a promotional tool for your company and lots more. He also reveals the biggest blogging mistakes everyone should avoid. In addition, the reader can read up on advice from top blogging experts as well as cyber stars and entertainment bloggers like Perez Hilton.
The book covers all topics necessary to create successful blogs by implementing the many tools and advice given in this book.
Which blogging software should you use?
Posted by: | CommentsYou’ve been researching and thinking about having your own blog for ages, and you’re ready to go do it. As you start looking at all that’s out there, confusion starts to grow. Should I use Wordpress, Blogger, Typepad, Live Journal or something else entirely?
Read More→
Growing your business with blogging
Posted by: | CommentsA lot of businesses could do with a boost these days, but don’t have a huge fund to invest in advertising or promotion. Blogging is a great way to grow your business, without the huge costs. It adds credibility to your business, helps brand you and your business and creates the kind of community and authenticity prospects are craving. People no longer care to do business with a nameless faceless entity; they want to know who they’re doing business with and what they’re about. A blog helps you accomplish this, thus building your awareness and customer base. Here are a few tips and strategies to use blogging to grow your business.
#1 Blogging is a fine balance of information and entertainment. On a business blog, often people do want to get to know you and your personality however only if it relates to helping them solve their problems. So too much information isn’t necessarily a good thing. For example, let’s say you have a niche specific coaching business and you coach stay at home mums who are trying to open their own business.
Your blog will ideally offer tips, strategies and advice on how to handle the struggles that those mums face. You can, and should, mix in stories that relate to the blog posts however, blogging about what you had for breakfast or how the date you went on last night didn’t go so well, isn’t relevant or helpful to your readers. So be personable and share stories as they relate to your business. Ask yourself if it benefits the reader, if it doesn’t, get rid of it.
#2 Blog frequently. A blog helps draw traffic because it’s updated frequently and thus can achieve a higher search engine ranking than your website. Yet if you only blog once a month not only are you short changing anyone who subscribed to your blog, you’re shortchanging yourself because the search engine results are going to suffer. The great thing about blogging is that you can write thirty posts in one sitting and then schedule them to be posted over the next thirty days; you don’t have to sit down every single day and write something. Find a posting schedule that works for you and also benefits your readers and the search engines, a minimum would be once a week.
#3 Be sure to link to your website. One of the advantages of a blog is that people often land there instead of your website, due to the search engine optimization features. If you want to drive traffic to your website home page, make sure there is at least one link to it.
#4 Have patience. It takes time to build up a following and for some it doesn’t really ever happen. Does that mean your blog isn’t working to help build your business? Absolutely not. Many people may read your blog posts without subscribing or commenting but if the information they found was helpful, they’ll be more likely to buy from you.
#5 Choose your blog host wisely. There are many free blogging hosts, wordpress, blogger, typepad and so on, but for a business blog you should really be hosting it on your own domain. Wordpress is free blogging software and offers a number of SEO features, tagging, analytics and so on, and is very easy to use.
Blogging helps you build your business in other not so obvious was as well. You’ll learn what your audience likes to read and comment on. You’ll also learn more about what their problems are and how you can solve them and thus build your business. All in all, blogging is an exceptional way to connect to your audience, build traffic, and sales.
How Popular Are You?
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a relatively new site I just found – URL Fan - there About Us page descibes the site as:
://URLFAN is an evolving experiment designed to discover what websites the blogosphere is discussing all in real time. It does this by cultivating the content of thousands of RSS feeds and parsing billions of pieces of information.
Now every website owner can see who’s talking about their site in real time and how they compare to every other site on the Internet. There are many sites designed to rank the “traffic” of a website, such as Alexa, however ://URLFAN is different. We rank sites according to their popularity in the fast moving and growing world of RSS feeds.
So yes the site is only new and they are working hard at getting domains added, this site could be big, it’s like joining Technorati and Alexa so go check them out.
Does Your Blog Need A Whammy?
Posted by: | CommentsFor those of you that have followed my progress for a while you will know that I am all for supporting and encouraging mums to give an online business a go!
Many of those mums have jumped onto the now very popular blogging bandwagon, only to wonder if it is actually doing anything for their business. I mean who wants to be writing blog posts every day and never knowing if anyone is actually reading them? Does that sound like you?
Then you need to have a look at our Community Blog Whammy, which is aimed set up for Australian Online Business Mums with Blogs. The main aim of the Blog Whammy being to increase the traffic and interaction on the members blogs. The Whammy also helps to build a network of like minded women which is a valued resource when you are working at home in isolation.
If your blog could do with a little push in the right direction then come on and join us over at Blog Whammy.
Overcoming Bloggers Block
Posted by: | CommentsOvercoming Bloggers Block: Writing regular pertinent blog posts is an area that most bloggers struggle with from time to time. The common ailment of writers block or bloggers block as it is generally known in the blogoshpere can strike at any time and generally when you least expect it to.
If you keep in mind that a blog is a personal promotional tool for your website and that it should allow your readers to get to know a little about you, then allowing your blog to ‘feature’ your voice should help alleviate some of the bloggers block that is bound to occur. Read entire article here >>>
Technorati Explained
Posted by: | CommentsTechnorati Explained:Technor….what? Ok so you haven’t heard of Technorati and if you have you may not know much about it. In a nutshell it is a Blog Directory, yes that’s right a directory of blogs.
As per their About Us page and at the time of writing this Technorati are currently tracking 70.2 million blogs! Wow that’s a huge number of blogs out there in the blogosphere and what about all of those bloggers that haven’t even heard of technorati and are yet to claim their blog. It is just mind boggling as to how many people are actually blogging today.
Ok so what does Technorati do or more importantly what can it do for you? Read more here.
10 Posts in 10 Days
Posted by: | CommentsWell I mentioned the other day that we were gearing up for our second blog challenge as part of our private networking group here on Oz-e-wahm and today is the day.
10 Blog Posts in 10 Days!
I know you can all do it ladies and for anyone else that would like to join us just leave comment tolet us know and we can stop by your blog to cheer on you.
Happy Blogging.
Why Do You Blog?
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve just been reading Nell’s Blog and she is talking about why she blogs and what blogs she visits all the time. So that has spurred this post for me. I blog because I find it a quick and simple exercise to get something across to my vistors. Plus I enjoy it, the relaxed atmosphere in a blog is freeing, as at times I find the professionalism you need to keep up on your website a little difficult to maintain, so my blog allows that little bit of me to shine through it all. 
Plus you can’t forget that it is good for traffic too.! But why do I read blogs? For many reasons, for up to the minute information, keep up to date with others, to catch up with friends and to keep abreast of my hobbies
So have you given much thought about exactly why you blog?
Now the 3 blogs that I read all of the time are:
Nicole from the Modern Goddess
Ok, now it’s your turn. I’ve tagged and want to hear from the following 5 bloggers:
5 Posts In 5 Days Blog Challenge
Posted by: | CommentsOver at the Oz-e-wahm Private e-Networking Community we are having our first blog challenge. Thought we’d start with something quite manageable for this one. “5 Blog Posts in 5 Days” now that should be pretty easy!
In fact for me it’s already done, simple. I so love the ‘edit timestamp’ feature in Word Press, I sat down and wrote out all 5 of my Blog Posts in one setting and set them to publish daily for the next 5 days.
Blogging really couldn’t get any easier.
For networking and guidance with Online Aussie WAHM’s that are serious about their business visit the Oz-e-wahm Private e-Networking Group today.
10 Reasons Why You Should Consider Starting A Blog For Your Small Business Website
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a simpe, straight to the point list of reasons why you chould consider starting a blog to compliment your website.
1/. A Powerful Communication Tool, that allows you to build relationships with your site visitors.
2/. Easy to update and add fresh new content to your website.
3/. Links: A simple but effective way to gain links to your website.
4/. Provide Information: A place to keep your customers informed about what’s happening within your business as it happens.
5/. Little Technical know how required to set up and maintain a blog.
6/. Easily Monetized, either by using a variety of PPC Prgrams, Affiliate Marketing, Donations or Promoting your own Products.
7/. Establish Expertise: An effective way to assist in establishing yourself as an expert in your field.
8/. Archive Information: A blog is a great place to post yoru archived newsletters, customer testimonials and samples of you work if appropriate.
9/. Cheap Advertising: One of the cheapest ways to advertise your website, if used effectively.
10/. Free to maintain: In most cases blogs are virtually free to set up and maintain.
Today is D-Day
Posted by: | CommentsWell my fellow WAHM’s today is the 1st of Febuary, the official launch of our Private e-networking group.
Are you a member yet?
It’s not too late to join us, a small, close knit, private group of like mined mums that all very serious about their businesses. If you would like some more info have a read of this post.
We are just about to get underway, with challenges, website critiques and so much more.
I can’t wait to get started and am so excited about sharing this with other WAHM’s.
Success Stories
Posted by: | CommentsDo you consider yourself a success with your online business?
Then we want to hear from you. We are compiling work at mum success stories to share with other mums that have either just launched their website or are considering entering the online world, working from home.
We’d love to showcase your story and your website as part of our success stories feature, in our new website, which is due to launch very soon. If you like to know more please contact us at info@oz-e-wahm.com
Looking forward to sharing in your success.
Automate Your Blogging
Posted by: | CommentsBuilding a steady and reliable blog readership requires the blog to be frequently updated. Which, can often be thought of as a hassle. However, if you use Word Press as your blogging platform, then you have a fantastic automation feature available which allows you to work to your schedule and not be a slave to your blog. You can sit down to write posts according to whatever schedule you prefer to keep and then just set the blog to post them on the dates and times you prefer.
All you need to do is when writing your blog post, change the ‘edit timestamp’ to the date and the time that your blog post will be shown publicly and click publish. It’s really that simple.
Networking Group
Posted by: | CommentsWell I must say I am pleasantly surprised at the response we’ve received for the Oz-e-wahm Private Networking Group. I’ve been so busy conversing with, approving and listing new and potential members into the group that I think I will need to restrict new applications to a few days a month. We’ll see how we go over the next few weeks with it all.
We are all in the process of introducing ourselves and our websites, getting to know each other and what we all do.
Febuary 1st will be upon us before I know it and then we’ll be off and running with everything in full swing within the group.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to network in a private environment with like minded individuals, we have limited spaces in the various Business Type categories and they are filling fast. Read all of the details here.
Is Your Business Run Online?
Posted by: | CommentsOr would you love to have a purely online business? Running an online business has many varying factors and things change so rapidly in the online world that it is often quite difficult to keep up with the rat race.
We here at Oz-e-wahm got to thinking that a few heads have to be better than one, when staying ahead of the game.
I am excited to introduce you to our Private e-Networking Community for Oz-e-wahm’s. A place to learn, network, gain support and new skills all in a totally private, non confronting environmnet, with very little competition.
We will be covering topics such as Websites, building them, content and critiques; blogging, audio, online advertising, business ideas, affiliate marketing, website traffic and email campaigns, plus more.
I’d like to thank She-essence for giving us this opportunity of partnering with them to allow this to come to frutition. All of our private e-networking will take place on the She-essence Message Boards. If you would like to find out more then please take a moment and read this thread which gives you all of the details.
Looking forward to talking business with you.
Blogging Starter Pack
Posted by: | CommentsI wanted to share this resource with you. If you have been wishing that you could get a blog up and running or if you have already taken the plunge but are seeking more results from your blog then you really need this resource.
The Blogging Starter Pack is amazing, it covers everything from installing to managing your blog. It also uses video and audio to make the learning process so much eaiser, well it has for me anyway. Being able to watch and listen works for me!
It covers things like Blogging Best Practices, Keys To A Good Blog, RSS, Feedburner, Podcasting, Using and Editing Themes, Moving Your Blog To A Different Host, How To Promote Your Blog, Traffic Generation Techniques and the list goes on.
I have been truly impressed with the Blogging Starter Pack and I am sure you will be too.
Word Press Plug Ins
Posted by: | CommentsOk I’ve been rambling a bit about blogging and using Word Press I know I know lol!!!! But I wanted to share with you some of the fantstic plug ins that are available for use on your Word Press blog.
Once you’ve installed word press take the time to have a look around at what’s available to you. Visit www.wordpress.org and you can scroll through loads of plug ins there. (here’s the direct link to the plug ins area) But just to give you an idea, here’s just a few of the things you can add to your Word Press Installation:
Spam Filters, Themes, Comments, Shopping Carts, Tagging, Google Site Maps, Archiving, Galleries, Podpress (for podcasting), Contact Forms and so on.
The list is endless really and here’s links to 2 blogs that have quite a few plug ins available.
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/12/02/word-press-plugins-for-probloggers/
http://theblogjoint.com/2006/08/29/top-wordpress-plugins/
So have you installed yet? C’mon let us know how it’s going for you.
Wordpress vs Blogger
Posted by: | CommentsIn my last post about Blogging I shared several of the blogging platforms that are available to you. When you decide to start blogging one of the first decisions to make is which blogging platform you are actually going to choose. The two most popular formats to choose from are Blogger and WordPress. Both are free and both can be formatted to host your blog files on your own hosting account, which if you are running a business is vitally important for professionalism. Look at these two urls’s – www.widgets.blogspot.com or www.widgets.com/blog obviously the second one has gone to the trouble of setting up their own domain thus portraying a much more professional image than using a free blogging account. So how do you choose between them?
Blogger is popular for its easy set up. You can visit Blogger.com and have your own blog up and running in just a few minutes. If you want Blogger to host your blog files for you, you simply choose a subdomain name and you get a blog URL that looks like this:
http://whateveryounameit.blogspot.com. (As I mentioned earlier)
Blogger gives you several preset templates to choose from and you do have some ability to customize the look.
If you have an existing website that you would like to add your Blogger blog to, you just create a folder on your hosting account, then provide the FTP info to Blogger and it will publish the files over to your site.
Wordpress offers you a hosted option similar to Blogger at Wordpress.com, however the options for customization on the hosted version are limited. If you’re going to choose Wordpress, you will be happier with the features and customizing options if you install the blog script on your own hosting account.
Installing Wordpress is much easier than you might think. You simply upload the files and open up the install page, one click later and you’re all set, or if you have CPanel as part of your hosting package it is only a one click install. Customizing the look is a little more involved but there are good instructions available online, plus hundreds of templates that you can choose from and many are free.
Wordpress installed on your own domain shines over Blogger with features like being able to set up categories and publish ‘pages’ in addition to the individual blog posts. Wordpress also gives you the ability to schedule posts so you can set it and forget it for a period of time.
If you’re blogging for personal reasons, Blogger is a good choice for its simplicity and ease of use. If you’re using a blog to promote your business, you will enjoy the feature rich options that come with Wordpress. Pick the right tool for the job and you’ll be enjoying your blog for years to come.
Happy Blogging!
Where should you blog?
Posted by: | CommentsThere are many blog hosts and applications available today it is just a matter of finding the one that suits you and your business. Before deciding on which platform to use ensure you have a good look around each one, checking out the features and the ease of use.
There are several things you may need to look at when choosing your blog platform but the two main things are the purpose in which the blog is used.What are you planning to use it for? And your technical ability is another issue, no point choosing a platform that requires you to understand loads of technical jargon if you have no idea what it all means.
Here are a few blogging platforms that you may wish to have a look around:
Word Press is fast becoming one the more widely used blogging platforms and in some cases you may already have it on your website control panel.
Blogger is probably the most widely used free blogging platform available.
Typepad is also another popular blog platform but it does offer some restrictions when using the free version and some programming skills would very much come in handy for this platform.
Flickr recently purchased by Yahoo is growing in leaps and bounds. Flickr is primarily a photo sharing service.
Skype also has a chat interview component which can be great for podcasts and video or voice chats.
This list is certainly not extensive, there are other blogging platforms out there, just do a search and it will return many for you.
Best of luck with creating your own blog. If you have already taken the leap and set one up be sure to share the details with us here.
Why A Blog?
Posted by: | CommentsA blog is a fast and easy way to communicate with your visitors. I can quickly jump on here, post my thoughts on a topic and bang it is there for all to see within a matter of minutes.
Maybe I’ve found a great resource, there’s no need to wait until I can get around to adding the details to my website, I can blog about it right here and then everyone has access to that same great resource much quicker than if I waited to add it to my site.
Visitors can easily see the latest information on the blog, which for regulars to the site is a real plus. Bloggers (those writing the blog posts) can also easily interact with you the reader, thus building rapport between the two.
So have a think about your current online business, could you use a blog effectively?
If you have any thoughts or questions be sure to comment here.
What is a Blog?
Posted by: | CommentsOk so you are probably wondering (if you don’t already know) what on earth this type of website is. Well it is called a ‘blog’ or actually a Web log, but they are generally known as a blog for short. In its basic form a blog is really just an online journal, whereby bloggers add their entries whenever they feel the need; however they have evolved into so much more than that.
A blog is easily recognized by the way the pages are laid out, with the most recent entry being at the top of the screen. Blogs generally contain frequently updated information with most bloggers adding new posts to their blogs at least weekly and often more frequently than that.
Blogs build a personal relationship with the Blogger and the reader as the reader can leave comments which may trigger a dialogue of conversation on the blog. This is a great way to interact with your customers, friends and family; really anyone you like.
The great thing about blogs is that they typically allow anyone with little or no technical background to be able to set up and maintain a blog. Thus allowing people from all walks of life to start a blog and they seem to be “popping up” over the entire internet in a rate that is staggering.
Take a look around my blog and you will see that my most recent entry is right at the top of the page. Then over to your right are also some useful tools. There are a few links over there and also the archives. This is where all of the blog posts that aren’t viewable on the front page are sitting. They have been broken down into various categories to assist you to find what you are looking for.
You will also notice at the end of each post is a comments field. This is where you the reader are free to add a comment, maybe even ask a question or two. Let me know what you think of the blog and the posts that it contains. So why not give it go, click on the link and leave a comment, I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
