Blogging For Fun & Profits
Unless you've been under a rock for the last year, you'veheard the term "blog" once or twice.
To most people, a "blog" simply represents a glorifiedonline "diary" where geeks, computer nerds, and lonelyteenagers record their thoughts in cyber-space.
However, many people don't realize that "blogs" are quietlyrevolutionizing the way companies and customers interactabout everything from existing products to new ideas andimprovements in customer service.
In short, "blog" style communication has come of age andanyone with an online business better sit up and takenotice fast!
In the beginning, "blogs" were basically an online diary torecord your thoughts; but "blogs" have now evolved intodynamic websites that non-technical people can updateimmediately without html editors or ftp programs.
Blogs allow their authors to make instant website updatesthrough a computer anywhere in the world with a Web browserand Internet connection.
Blogs also allow readers to respond to the author's posts,provide additional information, links, expanded opinions,and more.
In short, an active "blog" creates an interactive communitywith the author as the hub and the readers as the spokes ofthe wheel that keep the whole cycle turning round.
Unlike traditional "static" web pages where content rarely(if ever) changes, an active blog evolves in a state ofconstant and never-ending renewal.
With blogs, smart online businesses re-discovered aprincipal that small "mom and pop" stores understood foryears: know your customers and stay in close tune withtheir wants, needs, and desires.
Large companies throw billions of dollars down a black holeevery year to literally "guess" what people want to buy.Most call it the "Marketing Department."
On the flipside, smart online businesses understand thatblogs allow you to avoid guessing what's on your customers'minds and provide an active and up-to-the-minute means forthem to tell you exactly what they do and don't like aboutyour services, products, and virtually any other aspect ofthe market.
This lightning fast communication makes it possible forsmall companies to literally snatch huge market share awayfrom more traditional companies.
Blogging also has a distinct advantage over traditionalemail newsletters in that subscribers can get udpateswithout having to receive an email message. Through thepower of RSS (real simple syndication), subscribers getnotified of updated content though an rss news reader.
Bottom Line: publishing a blog with an RSS feed that yourreaders can subscribe to means your content NEVER getsblocked by a SPAM filter.
Blog software basically comes in 2 flavors: hosted andstand-alone. Hosted blogging solutions make it extremelyeasy to get set up with a blog, often in just a couple ofminutes.
If you know how to type, you can create a blog. Log on toBlogger.com and you can set up a blog free of charge andstart posting in just a few minutes.
Blogger.com (owned by search giant, Google) will even hostyour blog on their servers.
Typepad.com, which charges as little as $4.95 per month, isalso an excellent hosted service offering additionalfeatures that enable you to quickly get your own blog upand running.
The alternative is stand-alone blogging software installedon your own website.
A very popular solution is Moveable Type, available frommoveabletype.org, which provides a very versatile andpowerful suite of tools for creating a full-featured blogto rival that of any size company in the world.
This is the solution I've chosen for my blog at
http://www.IGottaTellYou.com/blog/Whichever blogging solution you choose, if you plan tosuccessfully conduct any form of business online,understand that a "blog" must form an integral part of youroverall plan for customer communication and interaction.
About the Author:
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and theco-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how touse fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targetedvisitors to your website or affiliate links...
Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors toyour website for weeks, even months... without spending adime on advertising! ==>
http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
