blogging Archives - Page 4 of 7

In News

Online Businesses That Come With Maximum Flexibility

February 25, 2019 No Comments

Aside from the fact that starting an online business is something you do when you have a great solution to offer people and also is something, you’re passionate about, you also start an online business because you want to have the ability to work on your own schedule and not be limited in how much you can earn.

However, not all online businesses will offer you that freedom and flexibility that you desire, so if that’s what you’re looking for, then in this post we’re going to share with you some of the online businesses that offer the most flexibility.

Freelancing:

Freelancing is probably one of the easiest ways to start an online business – especially if you want to start making money as quickly as possible. The great thing about freelancing is that you can start with very little to no money and build a successful business very quickly. Whether you’re working as a freelance copywriter, graphic designer, or even as a freelance tax consultant, as long as you’re able to provide a service and solution that solves a real problem people have, then you’re going to find freelancing to be a very rewarding business where you have lots of flexibility around the schedule you work, the money you make, and the clients you work with.

Coaching:

If you’re a people person, then a career as a coach is something that’s very flexible and rewarding, but it’s definitely something that you have to be passionate about. The great thing about coaching is that you can do it with very little technical setup and money and because you can work with clients online then you can work on a completely flexible schedule. If you decide to go down the coaching route, then you can choose to work as a business coach, a health coach, a fitness coach, or even a parenting coach.

Blogging:

If you’re someone who loves to write and would like to turn this into a business by writing about things, you’re passionate about, then blogging is a great way to make this happen. As well as being totally flexible and enjoyable, you can make great money as a blogger as long as you’re putting out consistent and good content. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing about software development companies like Praxent or if you’re writing about fashion, the content needs to be of value to people.

Affiliate Marketing:

Affiliate marketing is definitely an extremely flexible business that you can start because it’s very hands off. Although it definitely takes some work to build up in order to start making money from affiliate marketing, it’s worthwhile, so if you’re looking for something that you can work around your other commitments, then affiliate marketing is a good option. One of the best things about affiliate marketing is that you’re going to be making money by recommending other people’s products and services, so there’s really no content that you have to create, and since many of these products and services are subscription based, you can make money on repeat from something you’ve recommended previously.

By Ryan Kh

Sourced from Catalyst for Business

In News

What 199 Days in a Row of Blogging Taught Me About Bad Ideas

January 28, 2019 No Comments

By Christopher Mance II

Today represents 199 days in a row of writing a daily blog. One of the most important things I’m learning on this journey is the art of loving bad ideas.

Most days I wake up and I have no idea what to write about. Some days I don’t come up with something until very late and don’t publish anything until 11:59pm.

Struggling to come up with a topic to write about is mentally frustrating. However, this gets even more frustrating on days after I actually write something that people really like and connect with. I tend to have the worst ideas on those days.

This is why I am starting to love those bad ideas. I now know that without bad ideas you can’t have good ideas. Furthermore, fighting through the days to write even when my ideas suck and I’m afraid I can’t follow-up on a previous success is teaching me two valuable lessons:

You can’t have writers block when you have a deadline you refuse to miss
Being successful at something does not reduce the fear of failure, it increases it. However, it also increases your courage to face it.

By Christopher Mance II

Sourced from Chris Mance II & Company

In News

Thinking of Adding a Blog to Your Website? Here’s How to Get Started In 2019

January 25, 2019 No Comments

By Melissa Burns

Blogging is one of the most valuable tools you can use to engage with your customers online and ultimately improve your marketing and business results. If you don’t have a blog already, you should definitely start one now.

Over the years, blogging has emerged as one of the main elements in marketing strategies today. And 2019 promises to be the year of blogging.

Before we delve into how you can use blogging to connect with your audience, let’s examine the benefits of adding a blog to your website. Then, we’ll discuss how to get started with blogging.

The Benefits of Blogging

A blog is really a simple, concise and easy-to-use platform that allows you to connect with your target audience online and share with them relevant information about your business and other relevant information. Because it is your own platform, you can explain directly to your audience all about your products or services and how to use them. Also, you can easily track customer engagement on your blog and get their valuable feedback firsthand.

As SEO is a part of most content marketing strategies nowadays, more and more businesses are focusing on optimization to improve their search engine rankings. To have a better ranking on Google, the most popular search engine, the most effective way is to add a blog to your website. However, it’s not enough just to have a blog. It will have to be active and you’ll need to learn how to apply SEO recommendations to make your blog popular.

According to a Hubspot survey, 60% of businesses that have a blog on their website acquire more customers. Your blog is where your content strategy starts. From your blog, you can pull out content for your email and newsletter campaigns, social media channels, webinars, eBooks, guides, and so on. Having all your vital information in one place will not only be helpful for your customers, but also for yourself as well.

Keep in mind, though, that your target website or business audience is whom you’re writing to when blogging. That’s why it’s important to provide them with useful tips and tricks so they are benefiting from the blog and finding reason to keep coming back for more information.

Among the numerous benefits of adding a blog to your website, the most crucial one is that it gives you and your company a voice. There is no better way to personalize your company than by having a blog. For instance, you can show all the values that are important to your company and its employees by writing about company culture.

Your blog is also a place where you can write about upcoming products or services, and comment on industry trends. Use it to showcase your brand personality and industry expertise. Remember that customers are less likely to buy a product from a company they don’t like. However, they are more loyal and likely to become repeat customers for those brands they like.

5 Steps to Add a Blog and Start Blogging

Starting a blog is easier than it once was, but you have to be more determined and have clearly defined goals before you start working on your platform.

Here’re crucial steps to make your blogging an interesting and beneficial process.

Step 1: Prepare and plan ahead

Every good strategy requires preparation, and it’s the same with blogging. What are the goals of your blog? Do you wish to inform people about your products or service? Do you want to provide them with additional information on product usage? Do you want to position yourself as an opinion maker in your industry so you’ll comment on recent trends and provide guidelines?

Answering these questions will help you determine in which way to go. Don’t forget about writing a list of topics for your blog. To research and get some ideas, use Google Trends, a free tool provided by Google.

Step 2: Add a blog page on your existing website

As a company or serious professional, you probably already have an existing website. To add a blog to the website, create a new website page with a link to a blog you set up on a popular blogging platform like WordPress (WP).

Alternatively, you can move your website to WordPress. Use .htaccess codes to redirect old links on your existing website to new ones on WP. The power of a static blog homepage in WordPress can allow you to run your blog with your website name as the main domain.

You can then customize your blog to match your website and post content on the blog. Visitors will not have a problem identifying and reading your blog.

Step 3: Publish the blog page

If you want your blog to be accessible on your website so that other people can read it, you will have to publish the website page with a link pointing to your blog, or add the blog link to your website navigation. Check that everything is correct in the page and click the ‘Publish’ button.

After publishing and making your blog link live on your website, go to your WP Dashboard and choose ‘Settings’ on the left side. Click the button to create a new static page in WP and select ‘Blog’ under the drop-down menu for ‘Posts.’

It’s very important that you choose ‘Blog’ under the drop-down menu for ‘Posts’ and not the ‘Front’ page, because it will determine where your blog feed appears on your website.

When you’re done with that, you will now have to decide how many posts you want to appear when your readers visit your blog. The number is up to you.

Step 4: Add your first blog post

This is where you’re going to need that list of blogging topics you created in the first step of preparation. Decide on the title and subject or topic that is best to publish as your first blog post.

With blogging topics already decided and written down in the first step, you will have no problem creating content that is high converting. This is why it’s essential that you don’t skip the preparation phase.

Don’t be too strict on yourself, though, especially if this is your first blog post ever. The good thing about blogging is that you can edit all your posts after they’re published without any problem.

Step 5: Create an editorial/blogging calendar

Blog posting should follow a pre-determined strategy for it to be effective. For this reason, create an editorial calendar for your upcoming articles, with topics, deadlines, the persons who will write them and any other information you find useful. Have this information clearly written down ahead of time.

When you blog without an editorial calendar, your blogging messages and schedules are likely to be all over the place, making your blog look disorganized and messy. Your customers may easily get confused. Blogging is pretty straightforward, but mistakes like these can harm your blog performance.

Conclusion

Adding a blog to your website is not something you can ignore today at a time when every business is focused on content marketing. When you decide to start a blog, remember these key points:

With a blog, you can easily communicate and engage your audience
Blogging will increase your search engine ranking results
A blog is a perfect platform for publishing converting content
Having a blog allows you to show your company culture
With quality preparation, you will simplify your blogging process
Having an editorial calendar is crucial for your content to succeed

With all of this in mind, blogging will be inspiring for you and your audience. It will simplify your communication with customers and make it easier for you to convert prospects into customers as well. So, get blogging today!

By Melissa Burns

Melissa Burns is an independent journalist and marketing consultant. Business innovations, technology, and marketing are central topics of her articles. She started writing with a single goal of sharing her expertise with other people. Melissa also provides workshops for start-ups and small businesses.

Sourced from The Web Writer Spotlight

In News

Conquering the Blogging Game: Tips & Trick from One Blogger to Another

January 2, 2019 No Comments

By Priyadarshini Patwa

Take your blog from zero to hero with these amazing tips that can make or break your blogging experience

Have you ever wondered why some blogs garner more attraction than others? Of course, you have and tons of you might have tried to decode the hack to do that as well. We all have been there. If you are someone reading this article at this moment, you either are a blogger or you plan to be one.

If you believe your blog or your idea is unique and captivating, make sure hundreds, thousands and eventually the millions out there share the same perspective.

To give you a clear view let me quote Jonathan Perelman, head of Digital Ventures, ICM Partners, a popular talent and literary agency in Los Angeles. The man simply said, “Content is the king but distribution is the queen and she wears the pants.” If you can understand the crux of this you are moving on the, right path my friend.

There are a lot of reasons why someone prefers one blog over another. Blogging isn’t a rocket science. It is about being you and putting your vision out there. But at the same time, it is hard as you need to stay interesting and relevant to your viewers.

In order to give you a clear context, Entrepreneur India sat down with Priyanka Bharwani, a blogger from Mumbai who goes by the name ‘AMomInLove’ on Instagram. She has been an entrepreneur, then became a mother and lately has donned the hat of a mommy blogger. So here are some tricks and tips from one growing blogger to another.

Patience is a virtue

You can’t own the digital space in one day. It is a growing process and patience is the key. If you lack the basic quality of forbearing blogging is certainly not your thing.

“Be very patient. Follow your gut feeling. Post whatever you like. Within a month you will know where you are heading. Accordingly, you will know what your forte is. Starting engaging your audiences and be patient that’s the key,” says Bharwani.

Know your calling

Source: Pixabay

The most important factor that makes or breaks your blogging experience is knowing what sector you intend to venture into.

Tap on to a new area of blogging. Don’t be part of the rat race because you already have a huge line before you will even be noticed. Always find a niche and accordingly pursue your passion.

6-8 months process

Source: Pixabay

Blogging isn’t about creating a lot of content. It is about creating smart content. Just like any start-up, blogging is a venture which takes time to fly. Usually, it takes 6-8 months before someone potential approaches you.

“Even for me it to get the first response it took me good 6-8 months and that too posting and creating content every day,” she shares.

Be ready for criticism

Source: Pixabay

One thing that you can’t ignore is criticism. When you are out in the open, posting and creating content you are more open to scrutiny than any other individual.

“Initially, I received a lot of criticism and even I used to wonder should I put my son’s picture on social media. There were people who were being extremely negative about my approach and laughing over how I was conducting myself. People asked me what I was trying to do as they failed to understand the term mommy blogging. I have got a lot of bashing but then it got better,” explains Bharwani.

Like, trust, business

Putting it out bluntly, if your content is liked, people automatically listen to you. Listening builds trust and soon they are open to doing business with you.

But how will you know if you are growing? The amount of people who connect with you and the response you get tells you how you are growing.

The Right Time To Convert Blogging Into A Business

Source: Pixabay

It is all about knowing the right time and quoting the right amount so you don’t lose on the opportunity.

“When people start approaching you themselves that is the time. So start with charging a small amount. When you charge, only then people appreciate your work and you are taken seriously. Things become more formal and your work approach becomes better. Initially, you even do barter before you actually start charging in a monetary manner. The amount of effort you put into one post, it might not be understood by a lay person. The ideation, the content creation and that take a lot of effort. Don’t overvalue yourself but don’t undervalue yourself also,” says Bharwani.

P.S. All the blogger, this job is all about innovating and creating. So remember the day you feel your creativity is over, just remember the more you create and use it, the more you have it in you. It never gets over, it keeps growing!

Feature Image Credit: Instagram/ amominlove

By Priyadarshini Patwa

Sourced from Entrepreneur

In News

Top 10 Tips To Start A Blog In 2019

December 21, 2018 No Comments

Sourced from Instash

Thanks in small part to the explosion of influencers and the myriad of highly visible fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers that have successfully cut through the clutter to make lucrative careers for themselves, blogging has had a rise in popularity and has pretty much become the “it” career of choice for the modern world. In fact, according to a survey back in 2014, already over 25% of under 25’s in the UK alone identified a future as a blogger on their list of aspirational careers and that figure will have significantly increased now that many bloggers have moved over into the mainstream.

In part that is due to a huge misconception that blogging is easy and doesn’t require much of a time commitment, is lucrative and can deliver big bucks sponsorships and brand collaborations and will bring social admiration and respect from your peers! While some of that may indeed be true, it’s also a long hard slog ahead to get visibility, traction, and engagement. In the UK alone there are over 100,000 searches every month on “How to Blog” and “Can I start a blog” which just shows you how prevalent the subject of blogging has become.

Not that we want to put you off starting your own blog, we positively encourage it, and we certainly admire your ambition. However, it is a hugely competitive landscape, so if you want to do it right and more importantly stand a chance of being both successful and profitable, then you need to set out on the right track from day one. Luckily for you, we’re here with our Top 10 Tips To Start a Blog in 2019, so hopefully, you can jumpstart your new passion or career and get ready to share your passion with the world. Whether that’s DIY, Fashion, Gardening, Tech or even Business related, there will be an audience out there that are interested in what wisdom you have to impart. So let’s take a look at some of the tips that will set you confidently on your way.

1. It’s a marathon, not a sprint! Blogging DOES take time and also effort

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was a successful blog. Get honest before you even put pen to paper and ask yourself why you want to start writing a blog in 2019. If it’s to make money online quickly, then blogging perhaps isn’t the right path for you. However, if you are passionate about your niche (more on that later) and are prepared to put in the hours and hard work to grow your audience, then read on! Chances are that nobody will even read your first blog. Certainly, you won’t see results immediately. So don’t lose heart. Keep working at it and know that the rewards and the audience will come in time. If they don’t, then at least ensure you are blogging about something that comes naturally to you and that puts fire in your belly and a big smile on your face.

2. Know your niche and identify who your target audience is going to be

This is absolutely crucial. You can’t possibly be all things to all people. You need to get clear about what you are blogging about, why and to who. Then you need to stick to that niche with sharp laser focus. Even if your friend suddenly has hit the jackpot blogging about their Dog’s daily antics, if you don’t have a dog and your passion is planting, it doesn’t matter how successful they are, it won’t come naturally to you, and your audience will sense that a mile away. Choose a topic that you are absolutely passionate and committed. That will resonate throughout your writing and really hit home and engage with your core audience.

3. Remember that Content is King, Queen and also your Ace card!

Yes, quantity matters, as does consistency but quality should be your Number 1 objective. Don’t be shallow and just write drivel. Make sure that you really give value and that your content is interesting and inciteful or humorous or practical. Whatever your niche is, your content needs to be relevant to that and to strike a chord with your audience.

4. Tap into your Social Network to drive more eyeballs

If you already have a Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, then use them. You need to be your own PR machine and blow your own trumpet. The aim of the game is to raise your visibility and so it’s not just enough to write fabulous content and hope that people will just naturally stumble across you. You need to be proactive and while your content takes it time to naturally rank with search engines, getting busy on social media, promoting your latest articles, boosting your posts and even consider strategically buying some traffic to get your blog kick-started in earnest.

5. Learn some basic technical skills

Today there are some fantastic blogging platforms available that you can easily , so there’s no need to be a coding pro, but a little bit of general technical knowledge will most certainly stand you in good stead. There are literally tones of customizable themes and useful plugins you can bolt onto your blog that requires no coding experience, but if you do have a good handle on the basics, you can ensure that your blog really does look the business and is a cut above the rest.

6. You really need to understand the basics of SEO

This is fundamental. Even if you don’t do it, make sure that someone else is aware of the importance of SEO and ensuring that your blog is fully optimized. Again, many of the blogging platforms now come with built-in SEO that helps take the guesswork out of your set up, but traffic comes from search engines and is the key to growth so have a very clearly defined SEO structure in place and know your critical keywords. If you are blogging about the best Italian food in Brooklyn, then make sure that phrase is utilized nice and natural throughout your content and even consider having it included in the name of your site. Something along the lines of The Best Italian Food In Brooklyn!! Yeah right, that one has already gone, but you get the gist. Don’t over complicate things by giving your blog a totally irrelevant and nonsensical name, clever as you might think you are being. Choose something that is relatable, and that will further help with your site’s important SEO.

7. The legal nitty gritty! Sorry folks, but you need to wise up to copyright issues

Right now you might well be writing articles that only your Mum and your best friend are reading, that doesn’t mean you have carte blanche to steal other peoples ideas. The internet is like the wild wild west, and you don’t want to the latest Outlaw driven out of town! You don’t want to be accused of plagiarism nor do you want it happening to you either. So brush up on your basic copyright knowledge and educate yourself so that you don’t unintentionally become a content thief by using someone else’s articles or images in whole or part without giving them due credit or checking with them first. Civil and straightforward rules of engagement!

8. The design is so important – so don’t just identify your niche, also identify your site style and your personal brand too

How a design looks can really influence how people even perceive the content. We are visual beings after all. Drawn to color and imagery and likely to be turned away by a long stream of consciousness or a blog that is either downright ugly or in a font type and size that is basically eligible. Also, remember that Google’s latest algorithms are heavily skewed towards prioritizing mobile-based content so don’t neglect to ensure that your blog is fully optimized from a design and navigation perspective for all mobile devices. Fewer people these days are consuming content at their desk on a big screen, and more and more people are dipping into their favorites while they are out and about. Make sure that your blog is pleasurable and easy reading experience and that is totally mobile friendly as well as responsive. Learn about optimizing your image sizes so that it loads quickly otherwise the bus may well have come and gone while your potential reader is still waiting for your content to load!

9. Be natural and be authentic. Above all else, by yourself!

You are you, not some imposter so keep it real. Always, always be yourself and stay true to you. To build real-time trust, your audience need to connect with you, trust you, engage with you and respect you. That is especially true if your ultimate aim is to monetize your blog by adding on a revenue stream. Whether you are selling a product that you own or on behalf of a brand, or are in a service based industry or network marketing model where recruiting new customers is the end game, if you’re not natural and you don’t foster trust, you will never succeed. Be open with your readers, allow them to engage with you and vice versa. Actively encourage interaction and participation by opening up dialogue and debate.

10. Keep going and have a plan in place for the short, mid and long-term

As with life itself, it pays to get clear on your goals and intentions. Set yourself some markers in the sand that you are working towards achieving and make sure that you keep one eye firmly on the short term and the other on the long game. Don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed. Starting out no-one knows every step of the journey ahead, and that is part of the magic as well as the frustration. It’s good to visualize your success and what that looks like. Whether that’s 20,000, 200,000 or 2,000,000 subscribers down the line, keep your sites firmly set on the horizon, steady your ship and success will come. Trust in the process and know that each little step you take puts you on track towards hitting the blogging jackpot!

Just do it!

Procrastination will have you sat on the fence for so long you will get blisters in your backside! If you are committed to making 2019 the year that you launch a blog, whether that’s a personal or a professional one, you better just get on and do it! Find your niche and define your audience. Decide which platform you are going to use and then set your blog up, giving it a really snappy and relevant, SEO friendly name. Crack on with creating some awesome content then get busy sharing the hell out of tapping into all our social touchpoints both online and generally by starting up conversations with people about what you are up to. They’ll love listening to you, and if you listen to them too, you might get some valuable feedback that will help you better engage with your audience. But above all else, if we can only give you one Top Tip to take away with you that will help you to start a blog in 2019, keep it real! Be natural, have integrity, gain your audience’s trust and act authentically.

Blogging is dynamic, and you need to be too. You need to attack it with your full spirit, all guns blazing and with a childlike sense of wonder and enthusiasm. No excuses! Stop watching the TV. Stop sitting on that proverbial fence. Commit today to set up a blog in 2019 and start laying the foundations to your future success. Carve out the time to blog and keep at it. Commit to creating some awesome content and commit to making your dream of being published a reality. This is no get rich quick scheme, but it is an incredibly rewarding, fun and fulfilling journey so enjoy the ride.

Sourced from Instash

In News

Uncommon Blogging Tactics Are Highly Effective, New Study Shows

December 20, 2018 No Comments

By Matt Southern

A recent study on blogging in 2018 shows that the least common blogging tactics are most likely to be successful.

Orbit Media Studio surveyed 1000+ bloggers and published the statistics and trends in a detailed report.

Perhaps the most interesting portion of the study is an analysis of what top bloggers do differently.

Only a minority of bloggers are doing these things, but a majority of those putting in the work report seeing strong results.

Publishing 2000+ Word Articles

Only 18% of those surveyed are publishing articles of 2000 words or more.

Out of those who are publishing 2000+ word article, 42% say it drives strong results.

On average, the length of the typical blog post is 1,151 words

Publish Articles More Than Once Per Week

Just 21% of bloggers in the survey are publishing articles more than once weekly.

Out of those who publish more than once per week, 46% say it drives strong results.

Blogging frequency has been going down over the past 5 years. In 2018 most bloggers are publishing a few times per month.

Spend Over 6 Hours Writing an Article

A small minority of 13% of bloggers are spending 6+ hours on each article.

Out of those putting in 6+ hours per article, 39% report seeing strong results.

Time spent per article is on the rise, but half of all bloggers spend less than 3 hours.

In 2018, the average length of time to write a blog post is 3.5 hours.

Create Their Own Research

Only 25% of those surveyed say they create their own research.

Out of those publishing original research, 58% report seeing strong results.

Bloggers who conduct original research are 2.9x more likely to report “strong results” compared to those who don’t.

Why Are Most Bloggers Not Doing These Things?

The reason why only small percentages of bloggers are doing these things is that it’s difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.

For most bloggers, it’s not feasible to spend over 6 hours writing 2000+ words and conducting original research.

Many bloggers also have day jobs, so in order to accomplish those actions, they would likely have to hire writers, a research team, and maybe even an editor.

However, that may be a worthwhile investment for businesses looking to drive better results with their blogging efforts.

Feature Image Credit: Shutterstock

By Matt Southern

Sourced from Search Engine Journal

In News

Is Blogging Your Entrepreneurial Engine?

November 23, 2018 No Comments

By Morra Aarons-Mele

In January 2005, on top of a Mayan pyramid in Oaxaca, Mexico, I had a life-changing experience. I met Lisa Stone, the founder of BlogHer, the first community for women who blog.

At the time, I was a political consultant in Washington, DC. I felt unheard, to say the least. BlogHer gave me a voice. Writing about politics as BlogHer’s first Political Director gave me a platform to share women’s points of view.

I didn’t know it then, but as one of the few female bloggers who covered politics, I had lucked into a powerful niche. As blogging gained popularity and authority, I often found myself fielding questions from curious political, marketing, and communications professionals: What was this blogging and citizen journalism thing all about, and could I explain it to them? Even better, I could blog from anywhere, and this allowed me more time to myself while still building professional influence. I knew I was on to something- and that was the root of my business, Women Online.

And that’s why, even though the internet is an ugly place, it can be magic when you’re working to find your voice and make your mark in the world. BlogHer co-founder and author of Roadmap for Revolutionaries Elisa Camahort Page calls herself a digital utopian, and I must agree.

Here are the profiles of three women who built businesses by satisfying their curiosity and finding their online voices.

Chedva

I met Chedva Kleinhandler in Tel Aviv when I was on a REALITY trip to Israel. I was drawn to this funny and bold woman entrepreneur. Chedva is a Haredi woman– from an ultra Orthodox Jewish community. She is a true trailblazer, and is now CEO of Emerj – an app that uses AI to connect employees with mentors on demand. When I learned Chedva got her start as a blogger I had to know more and asked her the story of how she started, because her blog changed her life.

Chedva KleinhandlerChedva Kleinhandler

In 2008 Chedva was translating subtitles for TV shows and books. She was a new mom managing her emergence as an adult. “I had a very personal blog, which I then after a few years deleted. I really sort of really spilled out everything about being a young mother. I was 21. It was a very emotional time in my life. I was just starting to work.”

Chedva built many blogs along the way: from book reviews to diet and fitness and lifestyle. She found her niche when she became a homeowner. Looking for inspiration, she found home and design blogs, an emerging category. Chedva says, “I remember the experience of finding a blog you love and not sleeping at night.”

She began commenting, following both the bloggers and the designers they featured on Twitter. Community developed: “We sort of became this group,” both fans of the blogs and aspiring bloggers themselves. It was a global group, including “one interior design publicist who was American but was an insomniac so she never slept.”

In 2009 Chedva started her design blog, which she initially called Belly’s Button and which evolved into Rooms and Words. “I started writing about both just to curate my inspiration. There was no Pinterest. My computer kept crashing from all the images I would save.”

She laughs: “I felt that suddenly I also had something to say about things that I liked and didn’t like, what makes this feel homey, why I would like to have this in my home. Not trying to position myself as an expert because I had never been an interior designer and decorator. Just as someone who is interested from a very human perspective.”

As her blog evolved, Chedva started consulting for big brands, “I found myself producing photo shoots; companies like Houzz and Etsy came to me for collaborations. In 2011, IKEA in Israel approached me. I actually gave my first workshop there for their designers on how to blog.”

As word got out, business owners from all disciplines approached Chedva for help in launching their online presence. As Chedva taught herself how to be a consultant, the idea for her company Emerj came to be: “I never thought I’d have a startup. It came literally from me feeling that mentoring was super meaningful to me.” Because she is a curious person and because she understands online community, Chedva launched a survey asking women all over the world what they needed to succeed. Women from 54 countries responded, and from the community’s answers she shaped her startup. For too many women she spoke with “Mentoring was missing,” and Chedva realized there was a gap in the market.

Chedva and I share a similar approach: we learn from women online! “You just need to adapt and learn who are the influencers, what’s interesting to them, what’s interesting to you, how you can actually bring humanity into it, right?”

Andrea

Andrea Sparrey’s counsel helps people get into elite business schools, and her track record is enviable. Her firm Sparrey Consulting has built a network of thousands of clients they’ve coached through the biggest life and career transitions, and who now hold powerful jobs in every industry. But when I met Andrea, she had just left management consulting and was a new mother. She wanted to break into MBA coaching, but the field was ruled by gatekeepers: from Deans of Admissions to consultants who’d worked hard to gain their industry knowledge and weren’t necessarily open to newcomers. So Sparrey used blogging to break in, and meet the people she needed to. Although she is now the past President of AIGAC, the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants, she began her career by editing the trade association’s blog when she was just starting out as an MBA admissions consultant. In so doing, she met everyone influential and powerful in the field of business school admissions— because she interviewed, engaged with, and edited them.

At the time, Andrea didn’t have much choice: she needed to conduct most of her networking online. Because of her husband’s job, she’d uprooted her life from New York City to San Diego, far from the locus of elite business schools and the consultants, bankers, and entrepreneurs who applied to them. “I was willing to write articles—and it gave me a platform to call up the most important people! I then helped organize the conferences, and then I had the chance to go out and meet people at all levels of the field,” Andrea says.

Lizzie

For author and editor Lizzie Skurnick, it turned out that the biggest superconnector in her career was her blog. Her inspiration to launch one of the first literary blogs, Old Hag, led to her career as an author, publisher, New York Times columnist, and much more–and, most important, let her make her living in the books world. Lizzie says, “My entire professional life and my dearest closest friends spring from a blog. If I hadn’t started it, and connected with the three people who also shared my passion, I wouldn’t have the life I have now.”

In 2003, Lizzie was sitting in her apartment, 40 pounds overweight, recently fired from her job, her only income a still-new relationship writing about books for a local indie paper. But from a major writer she profiled, she learned about blogs, and joined the fledgling world of literary bloggers. At the time, she says, “You could get fired for blogging, and we all either hated our jobs, or were about to get fired.” None of them had any idea the media was about to become obsessed with blogging, and she and her friends were swept up in it, some founding new Gawker blogs, some going to the Daily Show, some making a splash in print media.

For Lizzie, it led to writing reviews for the New York Times Book Review. It also, through a friend who read her blog, put her on the radar a local teen girls magazine that let her work part-time, but still gave her health care. Another blogging friend introduced her to the new editor-in-chief of Jezebel, and she launched a column on YA books that the major author (remember her?) recommended to her editor. That became a book, as did her New York Times Magazine column, which another blogger friend had recommended her for. That in turn led to her YA imprint, Lizzie Skurnick Books, which put her in the Times again, but as a subject.

“Everything, everything I have came from the blog,” she says, “but I was just noodling around. At the time, using a blog to be ambitious would have been crazy. So never underestimate the value of just fooling around with what you love.”

By Morra Aarons-Mele

Morra is author of Hiding in the Bathroom: A Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You’d Rather Stay Home) and founder of social impact agency Women Online and The Mission List.

Sourced from Forbes

In News

Twelve Books About Blogging and Content Marketing You Need to Check Out

October 26, 2018 No Comments

By Anja Skrba

The content marketing and the blogging worlds are closely tied together. A common trait of both is that these environments change very quickly. What works this month might not offer good results the next month and you never know when these major changes might occur, because they are caused by many factors.

I’m mentioning this because it can be difficult to find books for blogging or content marketing that can always give you something useful. In the digital world, some practices might be relevant for a certain period of time and then they are never used again. In other words, finding the right resources is so tricky. This is why I’ve decided to do some research and offer book suggestions that you can always rely on.

When it comes to content, no matter if it’s for blogging purposes or marketing, it’s essential that you find sources of inspiration and expert opinions that could shape your style and make your better at what you do. If you want to write well, you need to read a lot as well, and today I am going to give you 12 books that are definitely worth the effort.

Visionaries & Innovators

1. “Nicely Said“

This is one of the most unique content writing books, as it addresses a lot of different approaches and categories of writing you can find online. Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer have really put an effort into helping aspiring web writers learn how to “breathe writing”.

Some of the areas that are addressed in this book include sales writing, blog writing, eCommerce writing, interface writing, creating a voice of your own, and many more. This book really helps you understand what kind of voice you need to create and how to succeed in any kind of web writing. It doesn’t matter if you are experienced or not, this book will prove helpful.

2. “Creative Confidence“

This book is written by two authors, David Kelley and Tom Kelly and it revolves around unleashing your inner creativity to become a better writer. Many writers, even experienced ones, reach a creativity blockade that they simply can’t get over, no matter how hard they try.

“Creative Confidence” is a title that talks about this topic and gives you strategies and principles that can help you be creative. At the same time, it’s written in an entertaining and creative way, giving inspiration in both a practical and artistic way.

3. “The Content Strategy Toolkit“

Having a full-blown content strategy is very important if you want your blog or your site to deliver a great user experience. This is what Meghan Casey emphasizes in this nearly 300-page long book. Within these pages, readers can find a lot of practical advice on how to plan, organize, and create amazing content.

You can learn how to recognize mistakes in your content and find the practical knowledge on how to fix them. It also gets into conversions and how content can impact them while showing you the big picture and how to come up with great ideas for an effective workflow.

4. “Websites That Convert“

If you want to learn more about the online marketing aspect, then this book by Claire Suellentrop will be an interesting read. When it comes to increasing conversion, website design is an important factor, but quality copywriting is equally important, as it allows you to better engage visitors.

This is what the book is mainly about – increasing conversion through good writing. Writing a compelling copy is essential for inspiring the desired behaviors on different sites. This book gives you a lot of insight on this topic, even though its only 85 pages long.

Experts

5. “Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income”

This is one of the most well-known books for bloggers written by experts Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett. It’s truly a complete and comprehensive resource that talks about many important things. The primary subject and one of the most important questions for bloggers is how to make money through their work. This book addresses that very question.

The fact that the book has three editions only shows how well it has been received and what important knowledge it shares. It can give valuable information and tips for both novices and already established bloggers on how to start making money from their work.

6. “Clout“

This book was written by Colleen Jones, content expert and the head content marketing strategist at MailChimp. In this book, she explains how you can elevate your web content to a whole new level through 8 important principles that focus on rhetoric and psychology.

The first thing she suggests is to avoid going for the easier, shorter marketing tactics and to take the longer, more difficult road that gives greater results.

She then continues to focus on an important aspect of content – context while giving advice on how to break through some of the most difficult roadblocks. The book also includes many explanations of qualitative methods that can be used for measuring content quality.

7. “How To Make Money Blogging”

Bob Lotich also explained “how to make money blogging” in his aptly titled book. Once again, this book can help both beginners and bloggers who aren’t making money start monetizing their work.

However, Bob speaks from his personal perspective and how he was able to start a blog after getting fired from his regular job and start earning more money. In his book, he shares his stories, the mistakes he made, and the right practices that made him a successful blogger with a stable income.

8. “Writing for the Web“

This book was written by Lynda Felder, an experienced content publisher, and technical writer. In this book, she talks about online content and its quick transformation in a few decades. This book can help readers learn how to keep it simple and get their point across in the best way possible.

The book explores this topic deeply and even gives a lot of examples found on some of the most successful websites. As an extra, it also talks about podcasting and what makes it different than written blogs.

Beginner Friendly

9. “WordPress to Go”

WordPress To Go is a book written by Sarah McHarry. If you are new to blogging or you are seriously considering starting a blog of your own, this book can be very useful to you. Given that most bloggers choose WordPress because it offers so many benefits, getting to know more about this platform and how to use it is the right way to start.

It can be difficult if you don’t know where to start and this book is a guide for complete newbies on how to start a WordPress blog, how to install plugins, themes, how to format content etc.

10. “How to Start a Successful Blog in One Hour“

This book is written by an eBook expert and a professional blogger, Steve Scott. This is a very simple blogging guide which offers step-by-step instructions on how to start blogging quickly.

This book covers the whole process from a beginner’s perspective and explains what a blog is and the fundamentals of blogging. After that, it switches to practical steps on how to use WordPress, how to register domain names, how to acquire web hosting, and much more.

11. “The 4 Hour Workweek“

This classic blogger’s guide for beginners was written by Tim Ferris. This book can be very useful for fresh bloggers who want to start off on the right foot and get comfortable in their new career.

This book can help you learn how to get used to your new habits, organize yourself, and quickly get into the daily routine of being a blogger. This is a must-read book for all aspiring bloggers and new entrepreneurs, and it will help them learn how to focus on what’s most important.

12. “Content inc.“

This is one of the best resources for people who are starting out with content marketing and online publishing. It’s a 350 guide that will teach you everything a beginner and intermediate needs to know about content marketing. It also talks about blog content, how to write it, and how to get noticed by people.

This resource also talks about guest blogging, how it’s done, and how it can be used to grow as a writer. Everyone in the content marketing world knows the name of this author and his book is truly a resource every new blogger can use for a successful start.

All these books are great resources for bloggers and content marketers alike. Of course, as a writer, you need to find your voice and your style, but you also need to make sure that you build them properly. This is how you’ll be able to become relevant and, ultimately, successful.

By Anja Skrba

Anja Skrba is an expert on Blogging. Anja is a Content Creation Manager for FirstSiteGuide – an educational website which provides tutorials and other useful resources that help people create, grow and maintain their online presence. She’s been in the world of blogging and content marketing for over 5 years.

Sourced from Maximize Social Business

In News

7 Compelling Reasons Your Firm Should Be Blogging

October 25, 2018 No Comments

By Tim Asimos

Today, anyone with valuable, relevant content can attract an audience online. Blogging enables firms to become publishers by creating educational content that attracts and engages their audience while building trust and credibility in the process.

Having an active blog loaded with quality, original, thought leadership-oriented content should be a top priority in your marketing strategy. We’ve previously discussed the role of thought leadership in the B2B buyer’s journey—and blogging is one of the cornerstones of content marketing. Blogs provide an avenue for prospects to recognize your firm as a subject-matter expert, by providing them with information that they are looking for and/or find relevant to their business. Furthermore, blog content is viewed by 77% of B2B buyers during their purchasing process. Still not convinced that blogging is important for your business? Here are 7 compelling reasons why your company should be blogging.

1. Create value for your target audience

Content marketing is all about adding value by sharing relevant information that informs, educates and guides your prospects and clients. So by writing blog posts about topics that are relevant to your audience, you begin to provide value for them, as opposed to just talking about your firm and what you sell.

What are their pain points? What challenges do they face? What gaps in information are they lacking that your blog can fill? What problems can you help solve for them through blogging? If a prospect finds value in your blog posts, they are also likely to find value in your services as well.

2. Become an industry thought leader

Keeping your prospects engaged over a longer sales cycle is important to nurture the relationship. Blogging provides you with the opportunity to show that you’re an expert and thought leader in your industry by leveraging your technical staff as writers. Writing posts on topics relevant to your industry and providing valuable guidance and best practices gives you credibility as a company and positions you as a reliable resource for information. Your blog can become a go-to place to answer your prospects’ questions and concerns that are common in the industry and keep them connected to your brand for an extended period of time. You are helping your prospects learn something, while building thought leadership at the same time.

3. Differentiate yourself from the competition

While many companies engage in “me-too” marketing, focusing on features and benefits of their services, blogging provides an opportunity for you to differentiate your firm by showing instead of just saying. There are a growing number of firms with blogs on their website, but many are filled with the same old self-promotional, news-oriented content that everyone else publishes. But by providing educational and informative content that people find valuable and useful, you can set yourself apart from the rest of the “me-toos” in your industry. Instead of just telling your audience that you’re the expert, blogging allows you to actually demonstrate your expertise and knowledge.

4. Drive website traffic and improve SEO

One of the best ways to boost your website traffic and improve your SEO rankings is through blogging. According to Hubspot, companies that blog receive 55% more visitors, 97% more inbound links and 434% more indexed pages on average. Blogging gives you something to talk about online and promote on your social media channels, it gives you more indexable pages for Google to serve up to visitors, and it provides you the best forum to create keyword-rich content and lots of it.

Your blog posts should contain keywords and phrases relevant to your industry. It is important to have these keywords in the headlines, image ALT tags and blog post URLs. By doing this, each blog post increases your chances of being found online through search engines, ultimately driving more traffic to your website.

Recommended for YouWebcast, October 17th: How to Solve Your Marketing Data Nightmare

As more people view your blog posts, many begin to link to your pages on their own websites. This creates inbound links that give your company’s website authority with search engines and increases your referral traffic.

5. Keep your website fresh and create shareable content

As you write and share blog posts, you are increasing your firm’s content and keeping your website fresh and updated. Further, many blog posts can be repurposed into other forms of content, and vice versa. Each blog post should have share buttons to make them easily shareable on social media so you can further increase your reach to potential clients. It’s important to cross-promote your blog posts as much as possible in order to maximize its reach and influence and drive traffic to your website.

6. Attract prospects and generate leads

By providing valuable, relevant content, your blog attracts prospects and starts a relationship with them. Every blog should include a simple subscribe form to capture “fans” and they should receive periodic email updates from the blog. Be sure to promote subscribing to your blog using intentionally placed calls-to-action (CTAs).

Premium content for lead generation such as an eBook or whitepaper can be promoted on your blog as well using strategically placed CTAs in posts or on the sidebar. Gate premium content behind a form on a landing page that requires the prospect to enter their name, email and company in exchange for the content. Now you have a prospect to begin a lead nurturing program with and can eventually convert some of these leads into customers.

7. Engage existing clients and create brand advocates

Blogging is certainly effective for attracting new prospects and generating leads, but it’s also useful for nurturing relationships with existing clients as well. Blogging is one component of the content marketing machine that is useful for continually engaging your clients after you’ve closed the deal. You can and should continue to show your knowledge and expertise and keep adding value to the relationship. Ultimately the goal is not only keeping your clients, but creating passionate brand advocates that generate positive word-of-mouth and sell for you.

No pain, no gain

Many firms struggle getting their blog of the ground or keeping it going. Some are reluctant to blog because they don’t know who will write it or they are unsure if they can maintain it. Blogging isn’t easy! In fact, regularly producing valuable, quality blog content can be challenging and difficult, especially if your firm is not committed to it. However, blogging (as these 7 reasons point out) should be an essential component of any online marketing strategy and is a huge opportunity to drive website traffic, build thought leadership and generate leads.

These are just a few of the many reasons why blogging should be a focal point of your digital and content marketing strategies.

Feature Image Credit: Free-Photos / Pixabay

By Tim Asimos

Sourced from B2C Business 2 Commumity

In News

Beyond Blogging: Guest Slots & Thought Leadership

September 27, 2018 No Comments

By Dominic Jeff

Including high quality blogs and other forms of useful, interesting content is a great way to boost SEO and encourage repeat visits to a website. However, with everyone playing the same game, getting visitors flowing to a new site can still be touch and go — even if you do everything right.

Increasingly, targeted advertising on Google and social media helps bring new eyes to every lovingly crafted website, and companies relying purely on SEO struggle. The drawback is that this puts a business’ hard-earned cash straight into the pocket of the Internet giants. That’s why they’re worth billions while small businesses struggle.

There is a way, however, to get free advertising and introduce thousands of new surfers to your site: by guest blogging, you can showcase yourself — and by extension your company — and usually get a backlink to boot. This is not the game it once was, though, and you’ll need serious dedication and guts to succeed.

Is Guest Blogging Still Worth It?

Strangely, given its obvious advantages, guest blogging has gone somewhat out of fashion in recent years. This is because, like everything which works in the SEO game, it has been abused. In response to the increasingly common practice of paying popular sites to host spammy blogs laden with SEO-friendly links to a business’ site, Google decided to crack down.

In a 2014 post entitled ‘the decay and fall of guest blogging for SEO’, Google’s then head of web spam team Matt Cutts announced a major shift in approach to links gathered through such dodgy practices.

Cutts didn’t hold back on his criticism of spam guest blogging. His post started:

Okay, I’m calling it: if you’re using guest blogging as a way to gain links in 2014, you should probably stop. Why? Because over time it’s become a more and more spammy practice, and if you’re doing a lot of guest blogging then you’re hanging out with really bad company.

This now notorious post, and a subsequent warning from Google on content-syndicating practices in 2017, served to dissuade many good bloggers from guesting, while only partly deterring the spammers. Word got out that guest blogging was bad, and could actually hurt your ranking. Soon, the Internet was rife with people declaring the death of the guest post, or asking whether it was still a worthwhile practice.

The answer from experts is a resounding yes: but you have to do it right.

More Than Just SEO

Entrepreneur and online marketing expert Neil Patel says guest blogging remains the absolute best inbound marketing strategy for online businesses. Not only does it offer free advertising, he argues, but also confers authority on the writer which will be lacking if he or she only ever publishes on their own site:

Data from Social Marketing Writing found that “62.96% of people perceive blogs with multiple authors to be more credible. You want authority, qualified traffic, relevant links, motivated leads and sales in your business. Well, guest blogging can give you all of these and so much more.

But he goes on to say: “However, not all guest posts are created equal and they don’t all yield equal results. You have to go about it in the right way and you have to choose your targets carefully.

One of the reasons why some brands fail at guest blogging is because they don’t understand how to effectively produce the right content.”

The only thing about guest blogging that has really changed since Google’s crackdown is that it is no longer really a pure SEO game. For the purposes of ranking, running your own regular, prolific and reasonably high quality blog is now the better option. As for guest blogging, it is better to think of it as free advertising… only more effective.

Writing a guest blog is a chance to showcase yourself to a new audience; and to appear knowledgeable and trustworthy in your area of expertise and business. You therefore need two things: a site with a good readership, and something interesting or knowledgeable to say.

Which Sites to Guest Blog on?

Finding suitable sites to guest-post on will depend on the niche you or your client are targeting. Google’s crackdown on spam links and low-grade content has led to a number of metrics that try to rank a sites’ worthiness, such as Moz’s Domain Authority system. Partly because of this, it is fashionable at the moment to write for huge websites like Forbes or Inc whenever possible, as these boast the highest scores on these scales. However, these sites have become so large that actually getting your article noticed can be a challenge in itself, while the increasing admittance of user-generated content may eventually diminish their worth as trusted authority sites.

remember that a backlink is not just an SEO tool, potential clients may actually follow it!

Perhaps a better bet is to consider industry and trade publications that directly cater to your client base. These publications can often be easy to break into as editors are often short of good copy, and they have the advantage of being quality, human-edited publications that readers trust. Readerships may be smaller, but they are also more likely to be your clients: remember that a backlink is not just an SEO tool, potential clients may actually follow it! To approach these sites a human touch is required and you will want to contact editors personally, with an individually crafted note and even — gulp — a phone call.

Finding things to say on specialist sites can be tricky. Personally, I recommend channeling your opinions True, everyone has an opinion. But on the other hand, yours is unique. If you can pinpoint the issues which are of interest to your client base and provide an insightful angle on them based on your specific knowledge, then you should have a solid pitch to make to relevant websites in your clients’ niche. In fact, good expert comment and opinion is arguably the most high-value content in any publication.

On the other hand, the drawback of relying on opinion is that it tends to have a short shelf life. As with blogging, therefore, it may be a good idea to also write an occasional ‘how to guide’, which aims to be the definitive answer to a practical question or need which you can solve. These long-form guides are worth putting serious effort into writing, as the aim is for them to remain popular and useful for years to come — thus attracting a constant flow of traffic and attention your way.

Bear in mind that it is often best not to mention your own business at all, as this is unpopular with publishers and will cause readers to raise their ‘advertising shields’. Editors understand that you do want some payment in kind, and will usually offer a link next to your byline, or in an author bio. Content yourself with this reward, because you are getting much more besides.

They Call it ‘Thought Leadership’

Offering expert opinion and guidance takes you into the realms of what marketeers call ‘thought leadership’. Don’t let this term put you off, it is actually misleading. All it boils down to is presenting yourself as an expert in an area of interest relevant to your client base.

If that seems like it’s spiraled well beyond guest-blogging, it’s because in the old sense it has. Simply publishing text on obscure sites for the sole purpose of garnering a link is now at best useless, and possibly counterproductive.

But producing quality copy for the purposes of informing readers and showcasing yourself is as useful as ever. The best guest bloggers always understood this, and were effectively practicing thought leadership without having necessarily heard the term. They simply understood that having relevant people know their name was even better than a backlink.

Feature Image Credit: via Depositphotos.

By Dominic Jeff

Dominic Jeff is a journalist and copywriter who has worked on The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Plymouth Herald. Since leaving the newspaper industry in 2015, he has worked closely with award-winning PR agencies and ambitious early-stage companies to produce great websites, exciting press releases, and closely-followed blog series. His own writing can be seen at www.dominicjeff.co.uk More articles by Dominic Jeff

Sourced from Web Designer Depot