Why You Should Be Blogging
December 5, 2009 by Guest Post
Filed under Blogging
The power of the internet is something any entrepreneur can appreciate. Anyone can now take an idea and turn it into a living and breathing thing with minimal start-up costs and resources. Not only can you launch a product or service right from your own home, but thanks to what some have called the social media revolution, you can also share it with millions of different communities at ease, giving your voice a platform that can’t be matched anywhere else. With such a great opportunity just sitting at one’s fingertips, it may surprise you to know that not nearly as many people take advantage of it. Everyone out there (you reading this right now – yes, you!) should have a blog. Read on to see just how blogging can benefit you, and why blogging is a must for any internet user!
Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur or just a casual reader of the internet, running your own blog can benefit you in several important ways:
Regardless of technical experience, anyone can start a blog with ease thanks to popular blogging platforms such as Wordpress and Blogger, which offer free, low maintenance solutions. Having a blog has benefited me on several different occasions. For anyone starting out, the most important piece of advice I can give is to find something you really enjoy, and then create a blog around whatever that happens to be. Remember to keep it simple and make it fun!
This is a Guest Post by Steve Bellante who graduated with a Management of Information Systems (MIS) degree in 2008. He now works in the IT Infrastructure space while actively pursuing a couple of different entrepreneurial projects and other freelance work in his spare time. He has several years experience in the areas of web development, freelancing, and social media. His blog is TechLifeMashup.com
* Image: Courtesy of kpwerker
How To Live The 4 Hour Work Week
November 11, 2009 by Adam
Filed under Blogging, Personal Development
Still Doing It All Yourself When it Comes To Blogging? You Need To Read This – And It’s FREE
I recently stumbled across this great little report called Secrets of Outsourcing Experts Revealed – and I had to let you know about it straight away.
You see, I come across SO MANY bloggers who are going out of their mind trying to do everything themselves – from building their blog to customizing their design. They get home from work at around 7.30pm, eat, touch base with the family – and sit down to work on their Internet marketing . . . sound familiar? I know – I’ve been there – and this little gem is specifically for those of you who do it all themselves – and wish you didn’t.
The Secrets of Outsourcing Experts Revealed is not just another report about outsourcing. It melds together leading experts such as Tim Ferriss, Jeff Mills and John Jonas, all of whom have outsourced their entire businesses and live the lifestyle they desire, working as little as 4 hours a week. The report is packed with insights from these leading Internet marketers – they reveal their screwups, and their successes – and what they’d wished they’d done in the beginning. They also wish they’d had the kind of knowledge about outsourcing delivered in this report – and these guys know what they’re on about. One of the things all of them agree on is they wish they’d outsourced more of their businesses earlier – and that struck a chord with me because, like you, I know what it’s like to be drowning in a ‘to-do’ list for my online business.
The report is by Tyrone Shum, a young entrepreneur who has already cracked the secret of outsourcing successfully and now rakes in a cool 6 figures a year while working only 4 hours a week. He has implemented the strategies covered in his report, and knows exactly what (and what NOT) to do.
This is a perfect example of learning from someone else’s mistakes without making them yourself – the report covers the pitfalls and ripoffs people like John Jonas have already experienced – so you don’t have to. Know exactly where to go and how to begin outsourcing from the start – and I recommend doing it as soon as your business can afford it; according to the report, you can begin hiring staff from as little as US$125 a month part time – and think of the time that will get back for you…
I was literally bowled over by the amount of information and knowledge in this report – the more so cause it’s absolutely free. I personally would be happy to pay for this sort of information, so grab it while you can. All of the information you need on outsourcing are in the report, so take a little time right now to download it. After all, if it’s good enough for John Jonas, Tim Ferriss and Jeff Mills, it’s worth your time to look into.
YOUR DOWNLOAD LINK TO THE REPORT
To download your own copy of Secrets of Outsourcing Experts Revealed
report, please visit the following page:
Free Report Click here
For best results, I recommend you print out the report and find a nice and quiet place to sit down and read it from start to finish without being interrupted. That way, you’ll get to enjoy the interviews and have a much better overview of what it takes to outsource your Internet business. You’ll probably get loads of ideas from these Internet marketing experts and start jotting down ideas right away – I know I did. So far I’ve noted dozens of ideas for my own business.
Not everything in the report will apply to all of you, but there’s a lot of information to work with as you grow your online business. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all about leveraging your time. Think about the parts of your business you don’t really like, or that take you far too long (like technical stuff if you’re a copywriter – or content creation if you’re a techie). Do you spend time writing invoices, when you should be strategizing for growth? This is exactly the sort of thing you can outsource – and you’ll get stacks more ideas about leveraging your time in this value-packed report.
If you’re thinking about outsourcing, I recommend you read this report first – doing it the wrong way can cost you a lot in time, money and lost business revenue. Check out this report – you’ll be glad you did.
All the Latest Tools to Improve Your Website
October 12, 2009 by Adam
Filed under Internet, Making Money, SEO & Rank, Websites
While you may sometimes feel that the world of Internet marketing is reaching a saturation point, there is a lot to be said for this explosive growth. It is not likely that the market will be saturated any time soon given the ratio of people who are just discovering the media on a daily basis, but the pressure to produce meaningful and productive websites and pages has led to the creation of a huge number of interesting and useful tools. Designed to streamline and make your job as a webmaster a whole lot easier, these tools can save you a lot of anguish!
Feedback is so important and while there is nothing like the process of trial and error to achieve the perfect solution, in an ideal world you would not want to be using potential clients in this way. A number of options have arisen to help you link with independent users. For example, usertesting.com maintains an army of independent reviewers who could be used for a relatively small fee to provide you with targeted feedback. Each reviewer has been pre screened and is rated by service buyers for you, so you can be pretty confident that you will be getting an objective analysis.
If you want to automate the process of website analysis, consider clicktale.com, where you can receive an image of your screen detailing users’ mouse movements, keystrokes and general interaction. This is enabled through the placement of special JavaScript on your page and will enable you to see how users interact and how the general flow of your site works. This can be particularly useful in helping you to optimize forms and other interactive requirements and the service is free for a limited number of page views, with an increasing payment structure for a more enhanced experience.
A number of tools are available that you can use to provide feedback on the composition and technical efficiency of your site. For example websitegrader.com will give your site the once over and may well come up with something glaring that you have missed.
Google is a provider of many free tools, which should be in every webmaster’s arsenal. Google Analytics will provide even the most demanding analyst with a comprehensive breakdown of user experience, Google’s Website Optimizer gives you options for A/B and multivariate testing, and Google Webmaster Tools exposes your best keywords, the efficiencies of your linking strategy and any crawl errors that they detect.
If you are willing to invest a little bit, there are some great comprehensive tools such as SiteRay by Silktide, which goes into great detail about your overall site structure, correct linking, appropriate keyword usage, originality, popularity, technical strength and general usability.
Go to The Scrutinizer for a comprehensive list of hundreds of available web tools to be used for URLs, keyword and IP issues.
One of the best tools that we have found is a Firefox plug-in called Firebug. You can highlight and make changes to HTML and CSS from within your browser, making changes on the fly and see the immediate result. This is great for debugging problems, but remember that you have to make alterations manually elsewhere to be permanent.
For bloggers, check out SEO Blogger, which is a Firefox plug-in to help you optimize your posts as you write them. Go up a notch by choosing Lotus Jump, which will give you a task list of what you need to achieve to improve your rankings according to a handy little manageable timetable.
What tools have you recently used to improve your website?
Adam Toren
Ten Books on Blogging You Must Read This Year
April 13, 2009 by Adam
Filed under Blogging, Personal Development
Blogging amounts to a revolution in media and communications. For serious bloggers it is much more than just an online diary or a place to post pictures of our kids. If you’re a serious blogger, and you’ve already gone through all those “Blogging for Beginners” books, here’s a list of ten must-read books for you to chew on this year:
Hands-On Guide to Video Blogging and Podcasting: Emerging Media Tools for Business Communication
Author: Lionel Felix
Video blogging is the next step in the blogosphere. Already it is being adopted by the most savvy authors, and sites like YouTube which publish videos are insanely popular. You can increase your blog traffic exponentially when you start producing video blog posts. This excellent book is a basic but comprehensive look at the newest technology, tools and platforms for video blogging—and it’s cousin podcasting.
Author: Dan Gillmor
In this book, author Dan Gillmor discusses the rapidly blurring line between bloggers and journalists; and talks about the dangers and responsibilities both groups have to face when creating news and passing on information. Information is now freer than ever before and individuals have become much more critical in their thinking when it comes to world events, the political process, and economic issues. This book is an excellent look at the changing landscape of news and how it is reported.
Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture
Author: David Kline and Dan Bursetein.
Blogging is changing the way people stay informed and participate in politics, business, and culture. In this book authors David Kline and Dan Burstein take a “big picture” look at blogging and its impact on these very important parts of our society.
Blogging Heroes: Interviews with 30 of the World’s Top Bloggers
Author: Michael A. Banks
The best way to learn greatness is to listen to people who have achieved it themselves. This book interviews some of the brightest stars in the blogosphere, including Peter Rojas, Robert Scoble, Gina Trapani, Richard MacManus and many more.
Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business
Author: D. L. Byron
This book discusses blogging from the perspective of a business person and gives specific information on how differentiate your site from ‘hobby blogs.’ Get the lowdown on how to create, manage, and network your blog all with the aim of increasing your business.
No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog
Author: Margaret Mason
Standing out from the crown in the blogosphere means being creative not only in your writing, but in the way you approach your entire blog from concept to execution. This book offers unique ideas and a healthy dose of inspiration for individuals that are trying to make a name for themselves with their blog.
The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media
Author: Paul Gillin
Marketing has changed, and those who cannot adapt will find themselves lost and confused in the new world of social networking and social media. This book helps traditional marketing people grasp the concepts that they need to make social media work for them; and gives specific examples of how to operate within this new system of marketing and networking.
The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right
Author: Debbie Weil
Blogging isn’t just for the “little guy” any more. Now that they are convinced of the power of blogging, corporations are launching more and more blogs, many of them written by their CEO’s or other major players within their organizations. This book helps corporate bloggers understand the world they are entering, and shows this how to avoid some cliché pitfalls which will set them back as they take on this exciting new medium.
Author: David Meerman Scott
It is time for marketing people to give up their fast talking ways and get with the program. The new era of marketing is here and it is about three things: being genuine, providing information, and having a consistent online presence. This book helps redefine marketing and public relations based on the social media phenomenon.
Blog Schmog: The Truth About What Blogs Can (and Can’t) Do for Your Business
Author: Robert W. Bly
So many books have been written gushing about the joys of blogging that many writers feel a sense of letdown when their blogs don’t perform miracles for them. In this book, Robert W. Bly gives readers a realistic view of what blogging is all about, and what it can do for your business in the long run.
Do you have a recommendation that didn’t make our list? Leave a comment and let us know!
The Definitive 5-Step Guide to Making Money Blogging
I’m so excited to announce that our brand new e-book entitled The Definitive 5-Step Guide to Making Money Blogging is now available for download exclusively at Blogtreprenuer.com. Anyone who signs up for our newsletter will receive an email with a link that will allow them to download the book for free!
We’ve put a lot of work into making this a comprehensive reference tool for ambitious bloggers looking to take their site to the next level–and earn some real money. The book discusses the “Five Myths About Making Money Blogging” and the “Five Secrets to Making Money Blogging” along with valuable advice that we’ve learned the hard way, through trial and error.
If you’ve been blogging for a while but are still not exactly sure how to make it profitable, you won’t want to miss this valuable and totally free resource. We also hope you’ll let others know about the book, too!
We hope you’ll benefit from our research, hard work, and passion for blogging and entrepreneurship by reading and applying the tips in The Definitive 5-Step Guide to Making Money Blogging.
