6 Blogs Every Blogger Should Read

If you’re a blogger looking to increase traffic, monetize your blog, or improve your content or design, there are quite a few blogger resource blogs that can help. As a start, we’ve put together a list of six essential blogs every blogger should read on a regular basis.

Hot Blog Tips – Keith Bloemendaal’s blog covers a wide range of topics and is updated regularly. Having started several businesses both off and online, Keith (a regular commenter on Blogtrepreneur) could be described as a serial entrepreneur and really knows his stuff. Hot Blog Tips topics include social media, SEO, Wordpress, and general blogging. It’s a great resource to learn about any of these topics from a guy who lives it every day.

ProBlogger – No list of blogger blogs would be complete without Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger. This blog is packed full of information to help bloggers make a living online. As Darren (also the creator of TwiTip.com) puts it in his recent post welcoming new readers, “ProBlogger is a blog that is devoted to helping bloggers improve their blogging and explore ways to earn an income at the same time by writing about topics that they love.” If you’re new to blogging, be sure to check out his post, Blogging Tips for Beginners.

CopyBlogger – Another no-brainer when creating this list was CopyBlogger. Promoting successful online marketing through improving your copywriting skills and content marketing strategies is the aim of founder Brian Clark’s blog. With posts like 10 Secrets to More Magnetic Copy, The 7 Deadly Sins of Blogging, and 5 Steps to Going Viral on Twitter, it’s no surprise CopyBlogger has attracted over 106,000 subscribers and nearly 50,000 Twitter followers. If you’re not one of them, click over and see what all the buzz is about.

Weblog Tools Collection – This site’s name says it all. With tons of articles, videos, and news on everything Wordpress, WTC is a complete collection of tools for Wordpress bloggers. Whether you’re interested in the latest WP widget, or theme, skin or template, you’ll find it on this site. Not using Wordpress? In addition to Wordpress-specific information, the blog posts cover a wide range of other useful topics, from web ethics to the business of blogging, so check it out.

BLogic Think – Offering lots of free Wordpress plugins and themes, and some great blogging tips, this blog, started and written by Yunike Puspita and Satria Nugraha, has a lot of solid content. Because English is a second language to the writers, it takes a little more effort to read the posts. Because Yunike and Satria are full-time bloggers who make a living doing what they write about, it’s worth the effort. Be sure to pay particular attention to their posts on making money online.

Daily Blog Tips – A blogger and web developer since 2005, Daniel Scocco is the founder and writer of Daily Blog Tips, a great resource for anyone looking to make a living through their blog. Looking to get started with affiliate links on your site? Check out 15 Affiliate Marketing Questions Answered. DBT offers some outstanding content from guest bloggers, like Henri Junttila and Amit Banerjee as well. If you’re not already there, join Daniel’s other 40,000 subscribers and make the most out of your blogging efforts.

Whether you’re new to blogging or a full-time veteran blogger, we hope this list will help you to optimize your blog’s content, design and income. Obviously there are a lot more great resources out there. What’s your favorite? Join in the conversation below and share your thoughts.

What to Expect From Social Media Marketing in 2010

If 2008 was the year of beginnings and 2009 was the year of revelations, then 2010 is likely to be the year when social media marketing finally reaches its stride. It’s all about connecting and the opportunities for organizations that truly embrace the idea of social marketing are almost limitless. In fairly short order, the Internet has gone from the role of a handy source for information to a must-have, finger on the pulse, essential way of keeping in touch with everyone and everything. Expect real opportunities to emerge now that we have ways to interact in real-time.

The emergence of the iPhone and other smart phone alternatives has helped to introduce the concept of instantaneous gratification to millions of people. We live in a “now” culture and want instant answers to our thoughts, questions and problems. Commercial operations will be quick to exploit this urgency and we can expect to see applications and other solutions emerge, enabling us to convert this online connectivity to off-line action. For example, geo-targeted, personalized delivery of product or service solutions will become more commonplace, enabling you to receive a notice on your smartphone suggesting you interact with the retailer in your immediate locality based on your previous habits and propensities.

There’s so much data available within social networking now that it will be leveraged and used in ever more sophisticated fashion during 2010 and beyond. Micromarkets will emerge with dizzying regularity as this information is immediately converted from raw data to business opportunities. Trends will be identified as they are happening and as applications and solutions become more and more sophisticated there will be an increasing number of opportunities for smart and forward thinking businesses to make money, more quickly as they capitalize.

The Internet has long been fueled by the thirst for information and by the search mantra, but that information has historically been less than current. This will now change, as soaring Twitter use provides up to the second relevancy and data availability to Google and Bing search engine platforms. Real-time results will ensure that the would-be purchaser is even more educated and ready to buy products or services provided by the switched on entrepreneur.

The pace of technological change is so dizzying. At the beginning of 2010 we await with keen interest the likely arrival of the next generation of communication tools, possibly led by the iSlate product from Apple. Before long, everyone will have their own fully functional, always connected personal computing device at the right hand, where solutions and answers are only a second or so away. The mobile web will begin to complete the process of change. No longer will we have to make a special effort to do our research and formulate our buying decisions and we will be prompted by eager sellers to make a buying decision right now.

Social media platforms will be the conduit of change in 2010.

Adam Toren

Technology Highs of 2009

Doesn’t it seem as if the pace of technology change is accelerating? We live in exciting times as we are actually seeing the way that we interact and communicate change before our very eyes. Who is to say where we will be in 10 years time at the end of this new decade, as so much has happened in the world of technology in 2009 alone.

Twitter, as a way of communication, has become mainstream, as witnessed by search engine giant Bing’s revelation that Twitter was the second most searched topic of the year. Companies are really finding how powerful this medium can be, so long as they’re able to dig through the irrelevancy that can threaten to overtake it and get through to their targeted markets. Twitter still faces a challenge to keep the attention of those who initially expressed an interest, as only 5% of Twitter users can be described as being deeply involved.

Since Apple launched its iPhone, the face of personal communication technology has changed almost out of all recognition. Telecom giant AT&T can in large part thank Apple for this invention and for the exclusive deal that allowed AT&T to market the iPhone and really turn around the company’s profitability. During 2009 alone the iPhone has exploded into popular culture and the ubiquitous “app” has become almost an addiction for many. Tens of thousands of applications are available for the iPhone or the iPod on almost every conceivable topic or subject. The other smartphone providers are really scrambling to catch up.

Cloud computing really started to capture our imagination this year. We think that it will accelerate as we go through 2010 as it gives users a tremendous amount of flexibility and allows them to further break away from the shackles of a desktop computer system. Surely at some time in the not-too-distant future we will be using third-party service via the Internet to run all our applications. Would you bet, with Google, that the operating system of the future should be essentially just a glorified browser? Cloud computing allows users to access only what they need, can be scaled relatively simply and quickly and can be a great way to operate your business by trimming the fat and only using what you really need.

When Microsoft and Yahoo collaborated to form Bing, it wasn’t too long until it was announced that real-time search results would be available, through a collaboration with Twitter. Google followed quickly thereafter and Facebook is in the picture too, as our social media revolution continues to gather steam.

Helping to quench our ravenous thirst for information, the enterprising Amazon introduced us to Kindle, a cool piece of technology that allows us to download full-length novels wherever we should be, several at a time if need be and to read them at our leisure. The Kindle device fits neatly in the palm of your hand and you can adjust the size and rendition of the text according to your comfort level. Amazon reports that its customers bought more Kindle books than physical books on Christmas Day this year, as the downloading frenzy continues.

What buzzed your interest in ’09?

Adam Toren

Ask the Right Questions and Get The Most From Google Analytics

Google Analytics is arguably one of the company’s most beneficial tools (and they have many) for Internet marketers. Yet the majority of users hardly scratch the surface when it comes to exploring the true functionality of the tool. It seems that many are just put off by its apparent complexity. This is a great shame as you do not need to be a logistician, data technician or a Google insider to reap great benefits from the information contained therein.

Google Analytics can seem to be quite daunting at first glance, but if you spend an hour or so just surfing around within the site it will start to make sense. Google makes it relatively easy to implement the necessary tracking code on your site and they have a number of question and answer resources available to help you ensure that it is all set up correctly. If you have a number of different sites, it is worth taking time to ensure that you set up your accounts well in the first instance, as this will certainly help you navigate down the road.

Many people seem to struggle to come to terms with what Google Analytics is really trying to tell them. You can get as much information out of this program as you could ever want, but don’t burden yourself with trying to analyze every conceivable area. Rather, focus on what is really important to you.

You can set up a number of goals and events, enabling you to follow what happens according to triggers that you set up on your website or elsewhere. If you have an ad campaign or article marketing campaign you will hopefully have distinct landing pages within your site, enabling you to categorize visitor arrival points. You need to be able to see what happens when visitors arrive at those pages, where they went from there or whether they moved through your shopping cart to your payment pages, for example. If you notice that they do not go anywhere else once they arrive at your landing page, but just leave, a phenomenon also known as a high bounce rate, then you need to consider whether the content of your landing page is truly appropriate to the trigger that sent them there in the first place.

The program will allow you to break down your visitors according to their geographic source, of great interest to you if you are geo-targeting your campaigns. You can see which keywords are being used most by visitors who arrive at your site, enabling you to create marketing campaigns accordingly.

Google Analytics should be your friend and not something to be scared of. You owe it to yourself to educate and use this remarkable and free intelligence to your benefit.

How do you get the most from Google Analytics?

Adam Toren

Making Mistakes with Social Media

It’s such a minefield, isn’t it? How do you set foot into the social media world without making mistakes, even if you are the most hardened industry veteran? The question often asked is how do you market using social media? The blunt answer is, effectively, that you don’t! At least you don’t in the more traditional sense of the word. Enter subtlety…

You may have read our blog on Monday (Top Hits on Microsoft’s Bing) on how Twitter was the second most popular term searched this year through Microsoft’s Bing search engine (Michael Jackson being number one). This shows the explosion of social media and the interest in this microblogging platform as a way of communication in the New World. Off-line marketers could be forgiven for salivating at the thought of engaging clients, both old and new through platforms such as Twitter and many have jumped headlong into the fray, blasting out and tweeting direct marketing messages to the world. This is a major mistake and one which is guaranteed to turn off both your existing clients and anyone who might be tempted to do business with you. Social media is not social marketing and it should be viewed from a very different perspective.

I mentioned subtlety and this should be your keyword. The fact that you are engaging in social media circles is effectively marketing enough for you. In other words, your presence is your marketing tool. By all means provide great quality information and get involved with a conversation relevant to your product or service, but never, ever direct sell something. Note that the minute you do this, you have lost all the credibility and trust that you have been working hard to build up through these social media channels.

Any messages that you send out into the social media world should be relevant to the people you are sending it to and the channels that you are using. If you come across, over time, as the purveyor of good news and information, relevant and usable and at no cost, you will build up a following of sorts, which will in time be convertible to sales. There is nothing wrong in sending interested parties to a URL, so long as the contents of the landing page are appropriate, relevant, educational, informative, enlightening or entertaining. This page should not be an out and out sales page, although subtle links to your more sales-orientated offers or solutions can be contained elsewhere on these pages.

Don’t try and short-circuit the process by paying individuals to authenticate your wares, one way or the other. Be creative and come up with a great, service orientated social media campaign and treat this form of subtle marketing correctly.

What lessons have you learned using social media?

Matthew Toren

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