Blogging For Business: Tips on Marketing With Your Blog

There are so many different types of blogs, and some of them are for a variety of uses besides marketing for your business. Even my first blog, started in 2005 while I was still a classroom teacher, was not for business in any way. I had started a Blogger site on Google’s Blogspot platform in order to better serve my students with information and technology.

On May 2, 2005 Business Week magazine published a cover story entitled ‘Blog Will Change Your Business’ and the world took notice. While I was not even aware of that story until much later, I know that my simple little blog had a huge impact in the way I communicated with my students, other teachers, and parents.

When it comes to blogging for your business, think of this as opening the doors to awareness and participation. Awareness of who you are, what you’re doing, who you serve, and what you know about your niche topic. Participation in the form of involvement, maintaining a conversation with your readers, and encouraging feedback with comments and guest posts. At no other time in our history have businesses enjoyed such a rich culture of instant interaction and masterminding on a site accessible by people around the world. And instead of your prospects and clients talking amongst themselves, they have the opportunity to talk directly with you, and you with them in a manner that encourages openness and an exchange of ideas leading to improved products, services, and customer relations.

The blogospehere ( a term coined to refer collectively to all blogs and their interactions) has become a vast field of thoughts, dreams, and ideas, yet most blogs are abandoned soon after being set up. With an estimated two hundred million blogs online during 2013, that’s a lot of lonely electrons out there in cyberspace. I have to admit that a dozen or so of that number were mine; forgotten when I changed my mind about writing on a certain topic.

Once you get into the habit of blogging a couple of time each week you will find your voice and understand the true value of blogging for business. I run a seven figure business from my blogs and many other entrepreneurs do the same.

So when it comes to blogging for your business, tips for marketing include creating fresh and relevant content to drive targeted traffic, adding an optin box with a free giveaway to build your list, and inviting comments to increase visibility and credibility. Your blog is your ‘home on the Internet’, so make it a warm and inviting place to receive readers, prospects, and clients.

How To Find Great Content For Your Business

We need fresh, relevant content on a regular basis for our online businesses. I do much of my own writing, but I certainly cannot create enough great content to satisfy the needs of my readers. The question then becomes one of where to find the best content from alternate sources.

Newspapers and magazines still tend to produce some of the most unique and well-researched content in the world. As a rule of thumb, content that’s printed in a newspaper is usually more carefully checked than content found on the internet.

Online, a lot of websites tend to have similar information. Often time’s content writers do most of their research from other sources online. Yet newspapers and magazines work completely differently. They’re consistently able to produce highly unique content every single month that’s unlike anything that’s ever been published. How do they do that?

Here are some of the ways that newspapers and magazines find great content.

Interviewing Real Experts

Instead of looking through medical websites, journalists will actually call up well-known doctors to ask for their opinions. If they’re doing an article on a particular car, they might call up the car manufacturer or a plant manager to talk about how the car was built.

As a smaller publisher, you might not be able to command the same respect as a New York Times reporter, but you’ll be surprised at how many people are willing to give free advice if you just ask.

Using Books and Offline Publications

Another common source of information is written books and other publications, especially academic papers, research papers or official studies.

By looking up studies and books written by experts in the field, you can get a much more in-depth look into subjects that you just wouldn’t get from browsing internet websites.

There are several academic paper search engines out there you can use to find detailed source material for research.

The Public at Large

You might be surprised at how much information can be gleaned from the public at large. Granted, this doesn’t work for skill-intensive subjects like medicine or law, but for many subjects the public at large can be a great resource for content. For example, if you run a financial blog and you want to write a post about how rent control affects the economy, where might you go?

Yes, you can research academic theories about rent control. You can Google “rent control” and see what else is written online about the subject. But one fascinating place you could look is everyday people who actually live in rent-controlled places. Talking to just a handful of these people can give you more insight into how rent control really affects things than reading a dozen articles online.

As you can tell, newspaper and magazine writers tend to get their information from different sources than most online writers. Granted, these methods of researching content take a lot more time and effort. However, if you’re willing to put in that time and effort, you’ll be able to create content that will blow your competition out of the water.

Creating Freebies For Profit – Where Do You Find Them?

When it comes to creating freebies to giveaway there are many different options. So, let’s take a quick look at them now.

Create Your Own Freebies

One of the ways you can come up with a freebie is by creating it yourself. You don’t have to be a writing genius to whip out a short report. You only have to have some basic knowledge to create an audio or video. It really is easy now-a-days to create your own content and if you can, you should. Take into consideration your target market and figure out the type of freebie that will work best with them. But don’t forget to keep your skills and personality in mind too when choosing which freebies you’ll create.

For example, if you’re great at speaking in front of people but not such a patient writer then creating audio and video freebies makes the most sense for you.

PLR

Another way you can create freebies to giveaway is PLR or private label rights which means you buy the rights to the content. Here is a list of some of the forms of PLR content you can purchase and use:

• Ebooks
• Reports
• Articles
• Videos
• Software
• Graphics

This is just a small list, there are other options out there too when it comes to PLR. And a great thing about purchasing PLR is that you can repurpose it and use it in other ways too. For example you could combine several reports to create an eBook bonus for your sales page. A little rebranding and some personalization and PLR makes great freebies.

*These are my top recommendations for quality PLR:

• Customizable Tutorials from Nicole Dean and Melissa Ingold
• Marketing PLR from Alice Seba
• Quality PLR Reports and Article Packs from Nicole Dean
• Self Help PLR from Ronnie Nijmeh

Outsource

Another way you can create freebies is by outsourcing it. You can hire a Virtual Assistant that provides writing services, a ghostwriter, etc. You can also ask fellow business owners who they use to create content.

Partnerships

Earlier we talked about partnerships and the benefits of them, but these are also a great way to get some great freebies. Of course, it’s important that you take the time to review the freebie before you agree to partner or use it. After all, it’s your reputation on the line!

Your Next Steps

Now it’s time for you to make a plan of how you want to use freebies in your business. There are a few questions you need to think about:

• What do you want to accomplish with freebies?
• Do you want to boost profits directly with affiliate links and product promotions?
• Do you want to build your email list for long term potential profits?
• Do you want to drive traffic to your website or build awareness?

Write this information down. It will help you reach your goals and to know the types of freebie products you need to create and what you’re going to do with them.

There are many benefits you can reap from giving away different things like information, products and services. As mentioned earlier in the report, freebies are your ‘foot in the door’ with potential customers and your freebie provides a lot of value, you’re going to make people depend on you for even more information. And they’re also a great way to motivate people to make a purchase. And freebies are also a great way for you to build your brand and establish yourself as an expert.

So, what are you waiting for? Start planning your freebie strategy today!

Donna Kozik, Write a Book in a Weekend creator, is someone I have admired for the past five years. We first met in person at a live event in southern California, and became fast friends as I saw how much she was doing to help others with her trainings for new authors.

She is originally from northwestern Pennsylvania and grew up on a two hundred acre dairy farm. A series of life events led to her moving to San Diego in 2001, and that’s when she wrote 29 Days to a Smooth Move. She landed her in Women’s World and Woman’s Day magazines and opened the doors to a world of possibilities with people asking her how they could also write a book.

Soon after Donna started a Facebook group on how people could write a book in a weekend, leading to her signature training program, aptly named Write a Book in a Weekend. I’ve been through this course and Donna was able to help me change my perspective on the entire process of becoming a successful author. This is Donna’s passion, and it certainly shows as she works her magic to help us get our ideas out of our head and onto the page. She does not believe in the ‘tortured writer’ syndrome, showing people how to write very quickly and become a published author. This program allows her to shepherd you through the process, beginning before the weekend even begins.

Donna surprised me by turning the tables and asking me what becoming a published author has brought to my life, and this gave way to us sharing ideas on how and why this is so important in your life.

We discussed her Gratitude Book Project for 365 Days of Gratitude, in which author’s contribute to an anthology of stories about what they are grateful for. I have been in two of these books and love the exposure and credibility I receive just by answering the question ‘What am I grateful for?’ She describes this ‘keeping gratitude in motion’.

I would encourage you to get started with Donna’s training if you are ready to become a published author. I know you will enjoy this interview to learn more about who should become an author and what it will bring to your life in the future.

Melissa Ingold , marketing expert and online trainer, is a savvy solopreneur I have been following for several years. She lives in Canada with her husband and children while operating her business from a home office. She’s also an expert at partnering and Joint Ventures and continues to be involved in projects with some of the biggest names online.

In this interview Melissa shares her amazing story of starting out in the work force as a single mother without a high school education. She leveraged her situation and had soon risen to the top, when she made the decision to start her own business. Over the years she learned more, gained experience and confidence, and now stands head and shoulders above many other entrepreneurs. Oh, and if you are wondering, she did go back to school to finish her education, making her background even stronger in the process.

Melissa found Kelly McCausey and her Work at Home Mom’s group along the way, and soon they had partnered on a project. She is also currently Nicole Dean’s partner in a site called Coach Glue, which offers customizable tutorials for coaches, consultants, and other online and offline professionals. Melissa and Nicole are revolutionizing the world of PLR – private label rights – content with this site and making it more appealing for those who have not been clear on this concept up until this time.

You will gain a clearer understanding of what it takes to become a successful online entrepreneur by listening to this podcast interview. Be sure to download your free customizable tutorials and put them to work in your own business.

Subscribe To All Interviews In The Podcast Series

Online Marketing Tips Podcast

Have you created your own digital information products? Are you using private label rights content (PLR) in your online marketing? Which forum is the best one to join? In this episode of the Online Marketing Tips Podcast With Connie Ragen Green, my newest podcast series, I discuss these questions and more. The events included in this podcast call were NAMS (Novice to Advanced Marketing Systems) where I have been on the faculty since 2011; Dennis Becker’s Earn 1K a Day seminar and forum where I have spoken the past two years; and my own upcoming event, the Weekend Marketer Live workshop in Las Vegas October 11-13.

My calls are interactive so that you may be heard. During this call I am joined my many of my students who share their questions, concerns, and accomplishments with their online business in regards to attending live marketing events, seminars, and workshops. This time we discussed using article marketing to promote your online business, how to create an irresistible free giveaway, PLR and content creation, how to know when it’s time to set up an autoresponder sequence, tips on getting more Facebook fans, pricing a new information product, using press releases for your marketing, and much more.

This podcast and these online marketing tips are intended to teach you how you can take your business to the next level quickly and effectively, and as a way for me to share my very Case Studies, secrets, and advice on creating a profitable and lucrative online business using the ‘multiple income streams’ approach. Each session is first recorded live as a teleseminar, and then repurposed into a podcast to extend my reach to the world. Please join my list to be included on these calls, and be sure to introduce yourself and share your site for optimal exposure for years to come!

Also, you can now pick up my popular training on winning affiliate contests and other online marketing tips for only seven dollars at Affiliate Contest Secrets. Use the discount code CONTEST to bring the price down to $7. This training has been updated for 2013 with the latest information, strategies, and Case Studies for you to use in your own business.