Winning Ladies Blog Together

This space is where you post your questions, things you’d like to learn about blogs.  

In the last few years, the term “blog” has gone from almost unknown to a household term. It seems that almost everyone has a blog, from corporations to the local bakery to the paper boy. Here are a few reasons why you should have one, too.

 

• Blogs are a great communication tool. Most of the writing you do for your business, from your site’s content to your copywriting, is focused on what your readers want to know about. While your business blog should have posts that focus on your business, blogging gives you a chance to let your hair down a little. It is okay to occasionally post about your personal life.
• Your readers will get to know your “voice”. They will feel like they know you. This will help you develop a relationship with them. You can further develop your relationship with your readers by adding a little interactivity to your blog. Allow your readers to comment on your posts. If possible, reply back to their comments. This back and forth bantering and conversation-style writing will keep your readers coming back for more.
• Use your blog to find out what your readers want from you. You can ask your readers to give you suggestions on products or services they would like you to offer. Ask them to send in questions, and you can choose to devote one post every week to answering one of the questions you have received. By answering these questions, your readers will come to see you as an expert in your field and they will trust your opinion.
• When your readers feel they can trust you, they will be more apt to use your products or services. People want to do business with people they like and feel comfortable with. Blogs help you give your customers a glimpse of “you” and your personality.
• Blogs are also a great way to gain promotion. You can give your readers updates on new products or services that you are offering; as well as products and services that are “in the works”.
• Blogging is a great way to promote your website. You can add incoming links to your website in your blog posts. If you have recently added a new article to your site, include an excerpt in a blog post and add a link to the page of your site that contains the whole text.
• Blogs also help you develop your writing skills. If you normally write how-to articles, step out of your comfort zone and write a small blog post geared towards another writing genre, for instance. If the thought of writing a sales letter makes your skin crawl, you can gain experience in copywriting by writing a 100 word blog post that contains a call to action.

So come share your blog, visit the other blogs, network with each other.  Not sure how to get started on this blogging adventure, check out http://winningblogs.blogsome.com/ready-set-go/

Don’t have a blog? Get started today.  There are several free blogging platforms you can use such as Blogger, WordPress, Blogsome, etc.  until you are ready to host your own. 

 Got ahead and comment here about why you have a blog, how it helps your business, or post about it on your own blog and leave us a link. 

If you are looking for a way to drive traffic to your website, and who isn’t, look to your blog. Blogs are an excellent way to communicate with your target market and invite them to visit your site. Here are some tips you can use to blog for traffic.

 

• Post on your blog regularly; at least 3 times a week. By updating your blog on a regular basis, you are giving your readers a reason to keep referring back to your blog. If you are providing timely and informative posts, your readers will see you as an expert in your field. They will turn to your blog as a way to seek answers to their questions. Posting regularly also develops a relationship between you and your customer. They will get to know you and trust your opinion.
• By installing a feed burner onto your blog, you will make it easier to keep in contact with your customers. Your readers will be able to subscribe to your blog and choose to have new posts delivered right to their email or computer’s homepage. There are several services to choose from, and you can get a basic service for free. Setting up the service is easy; you simply install a small piece of HTML code onto your blog.   This Blogsome blog came with RSS feeds pre-installed.
• You can also opt to have a “blog roll” or list of blogs your readers may find helpful on the side of your page. If you put the link to another blog on your page, ask for a link back to your blog, too. This can help widen your audience, as readers of others’ blogs will see the link to your blog and check it out. Just remember to keep your target market in mind. It doesn’t make sense to trade links with just any blog.    We are making an exception to this rule on Winning Blogs, one way links carry more clout, so DO NOT LINK BACK TO WINNING BLOGS on your blog, although links from Ryze, squidoo, social bookmarking sites, or even bookmark this site on your own computer. 
• One of the best, and easiest, ways to drive traffic to your website through your blog is to link back to your site as you post. Each time you put a new article on your site, you can write a “teaser” post containing an excerpt of the article and include a “read more” link to the page on your site that features the complete text. Also include links to older articles that become timely again. For instance, you may have put up an article on your site in the summer that explains how to keep kids occupied by creating costumes. When Halloween comes around, don’t forget to link back to that article. You may also want to include links to your opt-in pages or pages.  Include your a link to your blog in your Ryze and other forum posts in your signature file.
• Blog Hop.   Visit each others blogs, comment on each other’s posts, linking back to your blogs.  

As you start practicing these strategies check your page stats and see how many visitors are coming to your site through links placed on your blog. You will get a better idea of what is working and will be able to increase traffic even further.

There is no question that blogs are great for business.  When you blog, you can connect with your target market and promote your product(s).  Blogger is a free, easy to use blogging service offered by Google.  Using this service can be a great way to market your business.

When you use a service such as Blogger, you can create posts that explain the features and benefits of your product in a subtle way.  For instance, if you have an information product on growing tulips, you can create posts that give a bit of helpful information.  At the end of the post you can add “for more information <insert landing page link here>”.

If you have a physical product, you can create similar posts, giving people reasons to buy your product.  If you happen to sell kitchenware, you could create an informative post about the benefits of silicone bake ware. You can add pictures of your product to your post and include a link to the page where your readers can buy the bake ware.  

Blogs serve as a great communication tool.  You can keep your readers up to date with any changes you have made to your site, provide information on new products you are going to be introducing, and receive feedback on the types of products your customers wish you would develop.

Another way to communicate with your target market and position yourself as an expert is to establish a “question of the week” feature to your blog.  Simply have your readers send in their questions, and then, one day each week, choose one of the questions to answer.  Your readers will look forward to this interactivity and will take note to visit each week to see if their question was chosen.

You can also use Blogger to increase the size of your mailing list by adding a sign up form to your newsletter or other autoresponder list.  Once people are subscribed to your newsletter, you can continue to market to them.

Adding links back to your website on your blog will also help your website gain search engine traffic.  The search engines crawl the Internet, and when a site has a lot of links coming into it, the search engines take notice.  This can help your website rise in the results pages when someone performs a search using one of the keywords on your page.

These are just a few of the reasons why it is important to have a blog and how you can use a service like Blogger, WordPress, TypePad  for marketing purposes.  As you get more familiar with blogging, you can add an RSS feed to your blog, which will notify your readers that you have created a new post.  This will keep your readers coming back regularly, and further help your marketing efforts.   

Make yourself visible, promote your business, and have fun blogging!   

Everyone who has a blog will surely suffer a case of writer’s block from time to time.  It can be difficult to constantly think of ideas for new blog posts, especially if you post on your blog regularly.  Here are some ideas for finding things to write about when you feel like you have run out of ideas.

• Keep your blog readers informed about the changes you have made to your website.  If you have added a new article, create a blog post with an excerpt from the article.  You can include a link to your website which will allow your blog readers to read the full text on your website.  If you have made major changes to your site, let your blog readers know about them.  You can also include posts on your blog about new products or services you are offering, specials you may be having, and any other news about your business.
• You can use a service such as Google News to search for news stories that relate to your business.  For instance, if you are a virtual assistant, perhaps you can find an article about the increasing number of companies that are using a VA’s services.  If you are in direct sales, you may find a news article explaining the benefits that a career in direct sales offers (which would make a great recruiting tool).  You can post your thoughts or feelings on the news item and include a link to the original article.
• Perhaps there is something going on in your local area that your readers may be interested in.  When you watch the local news or read the local paper, think about how the story might affect your customers.  If you think they would be interested in it, create a blog post about it.  If you can find a way to tie it into something about your business,
• If you are a regular reader of a blog and the author recently posted something you found very interesting, let your readers know.  Some of them may be readers of the other blog as well.  This can stir up a lot of discussion and traffic on your own blog.
• One of the main reasons to have a blog is to give your readers a glimpse of yourself. Every post doesn’t have to relate directly to your business.  You can blog about a particularly busy day you had and include your favorite crock pot recipe.  The people who read your blog may be very busy business people as well and can appreciate the fact that you too are struggling to get everything done.
• You can also give reviews of products and services that you have personally used.  This is a great way to monetize your blog as well.  For instance, if you recently tried a product and loved it, find out if they have an affiliate program.  If so, sign up for it and write a blog post about how much you loved the product, including your affiliate link.  There are many examples of affiliate companies such as Amazon (products), AWeber (service).   Since my blog/website are about communications, it goes with my Cognigen site, which is a no cost to join,  sell stuff we pay you commission site,   which offers all kinds  of communication services such as cell phones to T-1 lines. 

Be creative, be yourself, offer value to your readers.  Don’t get hung up on having everything perfect.