By: Bob And Cindy Floyd

Many of us view blogging as something for the younger generation or just a social networking communication avenue. But creating a blog to promote your home based business can be very profitable. Savvy internet marketers know that using a blog as your main avenue is a successful business plan.

So why are more and more internet marketers turning to blogs rather than websites?

Here are a few reasons...

It's really easy to setup a blog. There are many sites on the internet that will provide free and low cost hosting of your blog when you use their blogging software. All you need is a computer to connect and your up and running.

You can choose from a variety of blogging platforms; Wordpress, Blogger, Joomla, are a few of the most popular. These applications offer a number of attractive themes to choose from. You're bound to find one that fits your product niche. You will also find with these platforms that people write addons, plugins or applications that add spice to your site.

People are attracted to blogs because they are generally less intimidating. They are a friendly environment that allows for open conversation about products or issues. You do not find the in-your-face hard sell you would on a website or sales page. It's a more personal environment which attracts people.

Blogs are also great for search engine rankings. Because there is a lot of activity, postings, links, the search engines love them. The more postings you provide and comments you receive helps boost your popularity and therefore your rankings.

Blog content

The most important aspect of a blog is its content. It must be useful, informative and non threatening. You can write what you want in your blog and if people find you interesting they will follow you. You can be informative, funny, and controversial, all are great avenues to grow you reputation. As your reputation grows and your blog gains readership you will see the benefits in your profits.

There is no rule of thumb on how often you should post to your blog. Once a day is great for keeping your rankings high and your readers' interest, but if you can only post twice a week or even once a week, the idea is to keep posting.

Offer your readers various ways to keep up with your posts. You can setup article feeds (RSS, Google, AOL), or have them register for emails to be sent every time you update your blog. This will encourage your readers to comment on your posts and keeping your blog active.

Monetize

There are many ways to add profit to your blog. You can sell advertising to other subscribers wanting to promote their product. You can be less assertive by adding text links within the blog content directing them to other sites. This is usually a personal preference. You can also add Google Adsense, AdBrites or any other content sharing ads.

If you follow these few simple ideas you will find blogging fun and a very powerful tool in your internet marketing strategy that sets you on the road to success.

Bob and Cindy are both home based business entrepreneurs with 15 years experience in owning Real Estate and Network Marketing businesses. You can own your own business today that provides residual income for your future. To learn more about how you can secure your financial future... Go to: http://www.ThingsLookGreatIn2008.com For advice and strategies on building success with your online business visit our blog at http://www.OnlineBusinessMillions.com

By: Ashley Mcallister

Blogs are such a good way to make a full time income online. It is being done right now on the internet as we speak. Blogs are very easy to set up and utilize when you are trying to run an online business. One of the key benefits in using one to start your business is the fact that it is free to use. So, you can be sure that you will have no losses and only gains in your business.

Today, I would like to go over the 3 most common ways that people make a good lining from by using blogs. After this article you can either so some more research on blogs or you can get started immediately. Here are the ways you can make money with blogs:

1. Affiliate Products

When you have your blog all set up, you can choose a product to promote. The product must be similar to the content that you have on your blog. When you choose a product some good sites that you can sign up with for free is Clickbank and Commission Junction. These are very reliable sites and you will be able to make some decent money with the products that they have available for promotion. This is the most popular way to make money as it tends to make the most money.

2. Google Adsense

If you have never heard of Google adsense it is Google ads that you can put on your blog. If you choose to use Google ads then you should definitely use Blogger to set your blog up in. Blogger has a very good application to get you started with adsense. The Google ads are so easy to set up and they are easily placed on your blog. Whenever someone visits your site and clicks on one of your ads you will get paid per click.

3. Sell Advertising Space

When you have your blog in a good state where it is receiving high amounts of traffic you can sell some advertising space. People want to share there new business to people that are niche centered. Blogs are usually about one niche, so a blog that has high traffic you can sell of some space. This can be very profitable.

Here are the top 3 ways people make good money in blogging from. Hopefully you were able to learn something new from this article.

For more information, you can check out: Blogging to the bank. If you are wondering what Blogging to the bank is, it has said to be a 7 step blogging for profits blueprint.

By: Lani And Allen Voivod

We get this question all the time from small business owners and lifestyle entrepreneurs diving into the blogging world, and the answer is, "Anything related to your business, products, services, industry, which would also be informative and entertaining (and not sales-y) for your Ideal Audience."

And that answer, while accurate, just isn't helpful.

Because (as we're finally realizing) when our clients and prospects ask what to blog about, the question is also a stand-in for a host of other concerns:

* What's the point?...

* How will this get me more business?...

* I'm not a writer...

* There's fear involved in "putting myself out there" in this way...

* I don't know where to start...

* I'm overwhelmed by the idea, the technology, the fitting-it-in around the rest of everything else I have to do as Chief Cook and Bottle Washer in my business...

You get the idea.

Assuming for now that you will be jumping in to the blogging world, here's the easiest formula I can come up with for a successful blog post, which I laid out for one of our clients in a Progress Report last year:

"To sum up, blogging can be as simple as:

"1. Reading an industry news story

"2. Formulating your opinion on it

"3. Typing up your opinion and supporting it with your unique set of knowledge

"Could each of [your executive team members] do that in 15-30 minutes or so, once (or twice) a month? If so, your blog will be a roaring success."

As another example, a storage and organization systems company out of Wolfeboro, NH, is going through blogging training with another company as I write this.

I met with the co-owner separately, and we got to talking about how new closet systems affect the resale value of homes. I checked out Remodeling magazine's 2007 Cost vs. Value annual report, and was surprised to see that they didn't include anything storage or organization-related.

That lack of inclusion is blog-worthy. In fact, if it had been included, it would also be blog-worthy, but for the specific situation, let's put it this way:

Imagine you're the co-owner of that storage system business, and you're at a cocktail party. Someone comes up to you and says, "I heard Remodeling magazine didn't include storage systems in their Cost vs. Value report. What do you think about that?"

"I think that's short-sighted," you say.

"Why?"

"Well, some custom closet installs run about $12K, which is in line with some of the lower-cost projects they're tracking. Storage and organization is a multi-billion-dollar industry, so it's worthy of Remodeling's attention. And a closet system is just as much of an upscale addition as a kitchen remodel, in terms of making the home more attractive to potential buyers. In a tough housing market, that could make the difference between selling and sitting on another year of mortgage and escrow payments."

That exchange is, literally, what the closet system company could post on their new blog about that report. They have their own inimitable personalities and styles of talking and writing, so it would end up reading differently, but in terms of creating the outline of a blog post, that's exactly all they have to do.

Of course, they could add one more thing. They could then write a question and a call to action for their readers: "Was the sale of your house affected by a closet system? Or was a closet system one of your deciding factors in choosing to buy one house over another? Leave a comment and let us know!"

This example, hopefully, not only helps illustrate what to blog about, but also serves as a step in the right direction for wrestling those "other issues" ("I'm not a writer," "I'm afraid," "What's the point?" etc.) down to the ground.

By: Scott C. Margenau

Every business, regardless of its size, needs a blog. I know what you’re thinking: "But I have a professional image to uphold. How can a blog possibly attract new customers and how can it provide them with the information they need?" The answer is simple: A blog can be one of the most decisive public relations tools in your marketing and branding tool kit. Read on and I’ll educate you on the basics of blogs.

What is a blog?

The term "blog" is slang for "web log." Wikipedia defines a blog as "a web site where entries are written in chronological order and are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order." The word can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. To get a feel for the wide use of blogs, consider the following: In September 2007, blog search engine Technorati tracked more than 106 million blogs. Some notable corporations that use blogs are HP, Google, Microsoft and ImageWorks Studio.

Myths and Facts

No doubt the last thing you need is a lecture on the latest Web 2.0 strategies. However, I should correct a few common misconceptions about blogs, as well as why web design companies use them as an effective method for reaching out to their audience.

Myths

Blogs are used only by teenagers. You need to spend many hours every day to maintain a blog. You need to know HTML and have other coding skills to blog.

Facts

Blogs allow a company to control the editorial content of the web site while restricting/blocking users’ comments. Blogs can be updated as often as you wish. But to make them more effective and valuable to your audience, update them often. Blogs require no knowledge of HTML or special coding. There are numerous blogging software packages on the market that are free. Blogs allow companies to quickly get information out to customers, unlike traditional communication methods. Blogs are an inexpensive way to effectively communicate and share information with your audience. Blogs comprise text and external links, making them search engine-friendly.

Benefits of Corporate Blogging

In January 2007, Forrester released a research study centered on "The ROI of Blogging – The ‘Why’ and ‘How’ Of External Blogging Accountability" by Charlene Li and Chloe Stromberg.

According to the study, some of the benefits of corporate blogging are: Greater brand visibility in mainstream media on the Web Word-of-mouth advertising Improved brand perception Instantaneous consumer feedback Increased sales efficiency Fewer customer service-driven PR blowups

The Outcome

Consumers are better educated today because of the vast amounts of information available on the Internet. Not only will a blog convey information to your target demographic faster and cheaper than traditional means, but when coupled with search engine benefits, brand visibility, and a value-based proposition, a blog should be an essential part of your marketing platform.

For more information, please contact sales@imageworksstudio.com.

By: Ashley Mcallister

By now, you should know that blogging is a very good way to make money online. In fact there are many people right now on the internet that are making a full time income in doing so. A problem that some bloggers have is how to create a good blog post. Without a good blog post your blog will never get the point across.

Its one thing to get people to come to your blog, it is another to get people to stay and read your blog as well. In order to get people to stay and read your posts I would like to go over some ways that you can make changes to your posts so you can make the sales you need.

Here are some ways to keep your blog posts alive and people to want to keep coming back for more:

1. Attention Grabbers from Your Titles

The title says everything! With a boring headline, who would want to stick around to read your blog? When you are searching for some information online for lets say weight loss, would you choose the title "How to lose weight" or "7 Tips to Burn the Fat and Feed the Muscle for Life"? Obviously the second one because it seems more interesting.

Another thing, I know were trying to rank well in the search engines, but you can just go stuffing keywords into your titles as well. This can hurt you id every title has a keyword in it. You don’t want to look like your spamming keywords. Change the keywords up a bit.

2. Conversational Post

When you are writing your content, you do not have to worry about your teacher grading you on your work. You want to get your point across and the best way to do it is by talking to the people like they are your friends. Using a large vocabulary of words will sometimes intimidate people and will tend to leave your blog post. Another thing, you should never try and sell anything in your posts because then people will tend to steer away from that as well.

3. Send Traffic to Your Blog Posts

To receive more credibility to your blog, you should take the URL to the post you just made and then send traffic to it. It is good to send traffic by using social bookmarking sites as you can receive a sudden urge of traffic that way.

For more information check out my: Blogging to the bank Review. If you are wondering what the Blogging to the bank Ebook may be, it has said to be a 7 step blogging for profits blueprint.

By: Muna Wa Wanjiru

Anyone looking to change or customize their MySpace profile pages can do this either by creating and coding the pages themselves, or by seeking out and finding readymade MySpace layouts, backgrounds and graphics, from other web pages that offer these services.

These aforementioned "services" that these web pages are allowing, you should know beforehand, are completely free. This means that you can go into any of these websites, look around until you find a few good MySpace layouts which suit your tastes, and then use the code which is readily supplied by the website, to create your customized MySpace pages.

Contrary to what you might think, there is no catch. You’re not being asked to pay for the codes for any of the MySpace layouts, graphics etc. for the simple reason that the websites get their money through advertising. This means that the more people who go to their website, and even return to get different MySpace layouts, codes and things, the easier it will be to get advertisers to pay for the privilege of advertising on their site.

So, as you can see, you have no need to worry that there is some hidden agenda that will affect you when you go to these sites looking for some good MySpace layouts to put on your pages. It really is plain and simple, and all you need to do is to browse through the many different MySpace layouts that these websites offer you, and find one (or two or three – dozen that is!) that you like.

You can then try them out patiently on your MySpace pages until you find the one that you really want. The others which caught your eye, can be forgotten for the moment and thrown back into the big sea of MySpace web offerings.

You will also want to look at other things besides MySpace layouts when you’re looking to customize your MySpace pages. Like for instance, things such as graphics, backgrounds, and animations which can all go towards making your MySpace pages memorable to visitors.

And if you want to make your MySpace ages even more memorable, and keep people coming back for more, you can add MySpace games to your pages, as well as music which plays when a person views your profile pages.

Once you look through and find the things that you want to pimp your MySpace pages up, you can then go about the business of fully customizing them. And when you finish doing this, well, you’ll probably want another change of pace and want to look through the different MySpace layouts again!

Among the many features that MySpace provides, you will find that there is a separate section dedicated entirely, to budding musicians. When you compare that with the fact that you can also upload music and music videos to your normal profile pages, it won’t come as a surprise when we tell you that there are websites that generates the music video codes MySpace needs for uploading of these to your pages.

These can be a great addition to your profile page and will keep other viewers coming back to your profile pages for more and more. And what’s more, these music videos even feature hits from some well known artists. So now you have a wider choice of music and music videos to choose from to add to your page.

Although the many artists featured on the MySpace pages are very talented, it can be very limiting to have to use only these songs and music to add to and enhance your MySpace pages.

And with such a demand for these types of well known music videos to be placed on MySpace pages, it really is no surprise, that there are so many websites that now generate the necessary music video codes MySpace needs to have them uploaded to the profile pages.

And as ever, generating these music video codes MySpace needs to display the videos, works along the same principles as every other coding need for MySpace. You go to the websites, you find the music videos that you like, you preview it, and then you copy the music video codes MySpace needs.

After that you log on to your MySpace account, go to the Edit Profile setting and add the copied music video codes MySpace needs to the appropriate editable textbox. You can then, preview, submit and save your changes. It really is as easy as all that, and you have nothing to worry about.

And if what you want to add to your MySpace pages isn’t music videos, but your normal everyday videos, then you don’t need one of these websites to generate the video codes MySpace needs for uploading. MySpace will do that all by itself. You just need to lend a helping hand by filling out the appropriate form which can be found in the Add/ Change Videos section of your MySpace page.

The video codes MySpace needs to upload these videos will then be generated automatically by MySpace itself and you have no need to copy and paste the codes in the Edit Profile section.

Muna wa Wanjiru is a Web Administrator and Has Been Researching and Reporting on Myspace for Years. For More Information on Videos Codes Myspace, Visit His Site at Videos Codes MyspaceI Will Highly Appreciate Your Views About Videos Codes Myspace On My Blog Here Videos Codes Myspace

By: Muna Wa Wanjiru

When you’re going about your business of customizing your MySpace pages to get the right mix of personality within the pages, you might also want to consider adding background music for MySpace to play whenever another person looks into your site.

There are of course ways for you to go about doing this, but perhaps you should first read the terms and conditions of using any music within your MySpace pages. You should also be aware that these affect your choice of music and what you can play on the cyberspace MySpace airwaves.

For one thing, you can in no way, form or manner upload or play any songs which are copyrighted, without the express permission of the copyright holder. This means that even if you went and bought a music CD from the store, or bought songs (legally) off of an internet site such as Yahoo! or iTunes or some such place, you cannot play or upload those songs onto MySpace.

You might have bought them, but you don’t have express copyright permission to use them for anything other than your own listening pleasure. Therefore if you don’t want to get kicked out of MySpace for eternity and have all of your MySpace privileges revoked, then you will want to stay away from uploading such copyrighted songs as your background music for MySpace.

When you get over this little glitch in your grand plans to make a great sounding as well as great looking profile page by adding your favorite numbers as background music for MySpace, you might then want to take a look at the budding artists who are featured on the MySpace Music pages.

You will then have the ability to choose from among these many talented artists’ offerings, the kind of music that you want as background music for MySpace profile pages. If you’re still kind of disappointed that you aren’t able to upload your favorite chart hits, there’s really no need. You will definitely find at least a few songs which grabs your attention, featured on MySpace.

There is a rich diversity to these songs which you are bound to appreciate and to make your life easier, and to make it easier for you to get the background music for MySpace that you want, you also have the ability to choose from different genres. This will most definitely make it easier for you to find the music that you like and which you would prefer to have playing on your profile pages.

And to make your life even easier, to add the music which you find on the MySpace Music pages, all you need to do is to click on the "Add" button. When you’re done with the entire process you will then have the background music for MySpace that you want, and people coming to your MySpace pages will have something to listen to while they go through your pages.

By: Muna Wa Wanjiru

If you have a MySpace account, then you probably already know all about the features which are available with your MySpace account, and you will already know that you can customize your MySpace pages. To do this for your profile pages in MySpace HTML codes and a knowledge of coding is necessary.

If you have these, then you will find that it is much easier for you to create outstanding profile pages which new visitors to your pages will be interested to look through.

You will also find that with a sound knowledge of coding you can go through the MySpace HTML codes on a more regular basis and change your background layouts and graphics as the mood strikes you.

However, even if you have no prior knowledge of HTML codes and coding, it is still very easy to go about creating the needed MySpace HTML codes to customize your profile pages. If you find yourself to be unable to code in HTML, there is no need to despair as there are MySpace HTML codes available to help you.

You will be able to find these MySpace HTML codes within the pages of other websites that cater to the MySpace user who cannot code. These other websites will have readymade background layouts, graphics, icons, etc. to please even the most discriminating person.

From that point it is a matter of choosing the background, layout, graphic etc. which you like. You will then need to copy the code which the website has freely provided for each of these. After that it is a matter of pasting the said copied MySpace HTML codes into the proper place within your MySpace pages.

To do this, you will need to go into the Edit Profile setting. From here you will be able to follow the directions given in both the MySpace pages as well as the website offering the free code.

The directions will generally be clear, concise and easy to follow. And after you have managed to paste your readymade MySpace HTML codes, you can then preview what your profile pages look like with their new background etc.

And if you find that you don’t like what you see (a person is after all, entitled to change their minds!) you can go back and choose another background which you might find more pleasing.

If you’re doing this you can go to another one of the myriad sites offering the free MySpace backgrounds etc, thereby also offering you the necessary MySpace HTML codes for free. And you can continue doing this until you find the perfect combination of background and graphics which makes your MySpace stand out from the crowd.

Muna wa Wanjiru is a Web Administrator and Has Been Researching and Reporting on Myspace for Years. For More Information on Myspace Html Codes, Visit His Site at Myspace Html CodesI Will Highly Appreciate Your Views About Myspace Html Codes On My Blog Here Myspace Html Codes

By: Paul Conway

Three Ways to Get More Traffic to Your Blog

Writing a blog is a great way to make money and it's a great way to build your list too. You can also sell your own products and/or sell affiliate products from your blog. However, for any of these things to actually work, you first need to get traffic to your blog. Three ways to drive traffic to your blog are to write articles, digg your blog, and post on forums.

The first way to drive traffic to your blog is to write articles. The best place to submit articles is ezinearticles.com. This site is also the strictest so make sure you follow all their rules. It will take just a few days to get your article approved but once you get 10 or more articles live on the site you'll become a "platinum" member and then your articles should get accepted in about a day or so. What you want to do is write articles that are related to your blog's information. Then put a link to your blog in the signature box below the article.

The next way to get more readers to your blog is to digg it. This means that you submit each blog you write to digg.com. This is a very easy process. It takes you about 30 seconds to sign-up. Then you complete the sign-up process by checking your email and clicking the link that digg sends you. Then all you need to do is click on "Submit New" at the top of the page. Then plug in the url to the individual blog post and then you're all set.

The third way to drive more traffic to your blog is by participating in forums that are related to your blog. Now, there are a couple of different ways to promote your blog on these forums. The first way is to put a link to your blog in your signature. That way the link to your blog appears every single time you make a post. The second way to use forums to your blog is to read the posts and find an interesting topic or question. Then go back and write a post about that topic, then return to the forum and post a reply that you covered this exact topic on your blog. Then refer them to the link in your sig. or post the direct link in the reply.

These are just three of the ways to drive traffic to your blog. However you must insure that your blog is set up correctly so that it will attract the search engines that ultimately bring the traffic to your blog. I have bought a couple of products from Mike Paetzold, who for those that do not know him is in my opinion one of the leading experts on blogging!

For example I purchased his "7 tips to make your Wordpress Blog Search Engine Friendly" As a direct result taking action the traffic sent to this blog increased dramatically thus increasing my chances of making a sale.

By: Neil Macdonald

I started my blog this past December. Of course, I was at the bottom of all search engines status. Gradually as I developed my site, I found that I was getting the odd comment on a post from undesirable sites.

As I published more and more posts, the number of comments from porn sites increased. I am very lucky that I am using wordpress and that it contains a plug in that allows me to approve or disapprove all comments from everyone before they are published.

If you are a blogger and do not have a plug in that will filter out spam, you could be in trouble, if you do not wish to have such comments published on your blogs. If you do not have a spam comment blocker then you should go into you list of comment on your blog, frequently, and remove theses offensive comment. If you click on my blog below, you will immediately notice that comments from porn sites definitely do not go with my content.

Does anyone out there know of any other method that an inexperienced blogger can use to keep control of this problem?

Don't get me wrong, if you want to put up a porn site go ahead and do it please but do not try and link back to sites that have content that is a million miles away from what you are promoting. If my site visitors or I want to look at porn, we know where to find it but do not force us to view it on my blog.

It is bad enough to get hundred of spam a day in Emails but to think that now we are going to get hundred of comments in our blogs is depressing. Last night, I had to delete 17 comments to a post from such sites and unbelievably one contained 20 links to different porn pages.

Advice to beginner blogger like me, install some type of spam control for your comment section of your blog. If you cannot, then check your comment section at least once a day.

Perhaps some very experienced blogger out there can suggest to us novices of how to control this problem.