PureBlogging

In my surfing to various blogs on the internet, and there are a lot of them out there, it strikes me that there are three different types of monetized blogs.  This has nothing to do with style or subject matter.  This has to do with how they handle the “business” of blogging.

The first type I’ll call the “Good Writer.”  The Good Writer has a ton of writing talent.  As you read their blog you can almost feel the passion they feel for their topic.  Their posts are well thought out, insightful, and well written.  They show you what they want you to see without a great deal of wandering about.

Despite their obvious talent and passion the Good Writer labors away in near obscurity.  They feel frustrated that they diligently post post to their blog, but their readership never seems to grow.  They may have a small group of loyal readers, but they can’t seem to grow enough for their efforts to be profitable.  They work very hard at the art of blogging, but without a better understanding of the marketing side, they will remain starving artists.

The second type of blogger is the one who has mastered the art of marketing their blog.  They understand how to work the system, and they have a knack for driving traffic to their sites.  They write content well enough to be able to get their keywords in, but their posts are either long, rambling articles with no rhyme of reason, or they are short, shallow pieces that are only written for the purpose of getting their keywords in enough times to catch Google’s attention.

The downside of the second blogger is, because of the weak content, they never build a loyal readership.  Although they can continue to draw traffic to their site because of their marketing efforts, their visitors do not return, and they never enjoy the word of mouth advertising that could push their blog over the top with readers.

The third type of blogger is the one who has enjoyed some degree of success with their blog.  These are the ones who see the whole picture.  They understand that although great content is essential to the long-term success of a blog, content alone is not enough.  It takes a combination of great content and a solid marketing effort that will ultimately make a blog successful.

Too often bloggers will ignore the need to market their blogs.  You may have the best product in town, but if people don’t know you exist, you will never see the type of success you want.  Yes, you may get lucky and have someone accidently find your site and Digg it, but the more likely scenario is that you won’t ever see much more than a small trickle of traffic.

If you are just starting out with blogging, don’t worry about getting 1,000 visitors a day.  Start out concentrating on building content.  Every legitimate blog advice article will tell you the same thing (assuming you already have your topic or niche defined).  Market your blog using Web 2.0 techniques; commenting, submitting to directories and blog carnivals, link building, and social bookmarking.  Over time your traffic will grow.  Be patient, but be tireless in your efforts.  If you are looking at blogging as a get-rich-quick tool, look somewhere else.  It takes time, and it takes work.

If you are good at what you do, you will see some success.  Give it time, it will happen.

It is a continuing struggle to not only get your blog noticed by Google, but to stay in the rankings once you’ve made it there. I wrote last week about what Google likes, so now it’s time to talk a little about how to take advantage of that knowledge.

We know that Google likes quality links going back to your site. The challenge is to get enough of those links to make a difference without it costing you a fortune, or costing you every waking moment trying to build links. There are two areas you can concentrate on that have the potential to pay nice dividends without a major investment in time. Best of all, it is free.

Directories

First, it you haven’t submitted your blog to all of the directories, schedule some time to do that. In theory, the directories will find your site eventually, but you can speed that process along if you let them know that you exist, and where they can find you. There is a nice tool called Directory Submitter that really automates the process.

Sidenote: Take advantage of tools that will automate the task of submitting your site to search engines, directories, bookmarking sites, etc. Not only will it save you hours of your time, but it greatly reduces the number of mistakes you can make along the way. After 25 or so submissions you can begin to get sloppy. Gmail and easily becomegamil , and all of your work on that submission will be wasted. When you automate you need to take the time to get it correct the first time, and it will be correct every other time.

Directory Submitter is not a bulk submission tool. You will still go to each directory and individually submit your site. Some sites require different information that you will be able to enter, usually by cutting and pasting from a side bar that contains your information. The directories tend to like individual submissions much more than automatic submissions. The more they like you, the faster you will be listed.

The free version comes with about hundreds of directories that you can submit to. You just double-click any directories you want to submit to, and the software directs you to the submission page, and fills in your information. You select the appropriate category and click the submit button. Directory Submitter keeps track of when you last submitted to each directory. That makes it very easy to submit your site when you have the time to do it, and you don’t feel like you have to do it all at once.

The down side of this strategy is that it takes a while before you see results. While most directories offer to list your site for free, it can take up to 4 months before they get around to reviewing you site for inclusion. Most will do it faster than that, but don’t expect instant results. Remember though, the longer you wait to get started, the longer it will take for your links to appear.

Social Bookmarking

For faster results you should seriously consider posting your content to the social bookmarking sites. Sites like Digg, Twitter, and Technorati are easy to use, and best of all, Google likes them. There are a ton of these sites out there, so this is a good way to build a lot of links back to your blog.

There are a couple of site that help automate this process for you. Sites like SocialPoster and SocialMarker do a good job of auto-filling information into the submit pages of the sites in their databases, so all you have to do is select the category you want to be listed under, paste your keywords, and submit. I have been using SocialPoster, and I have been seeing very quick results. I submitted a blog post in the afternoon and by that evening I had 2 listings in the top 10 for my chosen keyword phrase.

I know there has been a lot of questions about posting your own material to these sites, but if you don’t do it, who will? The thing is, these sites want to be relevant, and that won’t happen if it becomes a place for bloggers to spam their own content. The trick is to share the love. A general rule of thumb is to submit 3 other pieces for every one of your own. Some of that could be form another one of your blogs, but all of your submissions should not come from the same domain.

Make it a habit to submit your favorite sites. When you are at the social bookmark sites, vote for a few articles that you see. Take part in the community. The more you are involved, the more the sites will like you and pay attention to what you submit. Take advantage of the Love Karma - the more you give, the more you get.

The key is to get as many quality links a you can, especially from sites that Google has ranked higher than yours. The more links you build, the more relevant Google thinks you are. It’s another step in the process of climbing the Google ladder one rung at a time.

Whether you’re looking to improve your blogging skills, increase your blog’s readership or grow your list of RSS subscribers, social networking is the way to go! Yes, there are several other ways you can do all of the aforesaid things, but social networking can do wonders for your blog and allow you to learn new blogging techniques as well as meet fellow bloggers.

Following are a few of the ways you can begin social networking with fellow bloggers:

Respond to comments left by your blog readers

Many times blog readers are also bloggers. So when a blog reader leaves a comment on your blog, network with him or her by responding to the comment they left. You can respond by thanking them for dropping by your blog and leaving a comment, welcome them to your blog and invite them to come back or subscribe to your RSS feed, or if they ask a question, answer it for them. This allows you to get to know your blog readers and it makes them feel welcome. Who knows, by showing them you appreciate them and interacting with them through the comment area, they just may return several times or subscribe to your RSS feed to be kept up to date.

Join social networks and interact with fellow bloggers

By joining social networks you can share files, videos, advice and much more with fellow bloggers. In addition, you can communicate with and help your fellow bloggers. With over 200 social networking sites, you should have no problem finding a few to join so you can network with other bloggers. However, don’t overload yourself to the point where you can’t keep up with all the social network sites you joined, just sign up with a few social networks sites that you believe other bloggers are a part of. A few of the most popular are MySpace, Facebook and Bebo.

Participate in discussions on related forums

Sign up for forums related to the topic(s) you blog about. After you join, introduce yourself and participate by sharing advice, answering questions and communicating with other bloggers in the forums.

Attend conventions, expos and events for bloggers

A fun way to meet fellow bloggers and improve upon your blogging skills is to attend as many blogging conventions, expos and events as you can. At these places you’ll get to meet fellow bloggers face to face, and if you love sharing your knowledge, then consider volunteering your time to speak at some of those blogging conventions, expos and events as well.

Now it’s your turn to tell us how you network with your fellow bloggers. We also invite you to let us know how your ways of social networking with fellow bloggers has helped you to become the blogger you are today.

Last week I wrote about building your network.  In that article I talked about several different options to build the amount of traffic that comes to your site.  I just scratched the surface of the different traffic building tools you should be using.  the problem is, there are only so many hours in a day, so you really have to pick and choose a couple to concentrate on and really work them.  You want to concentrate on whichever tactics give you the most bang for your buck, so to speak.

So, how do you know what works and what doesn’t?  If you choose 3 different tactics to concentrate on, how do you know which were the most effective, and which were a waste of your time?  It’s possible that one is driving themajority of the traffic to your site, while the other is barely generating a trickle.  That’s where a good stat tracking program comes in.

I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here.  I’m sure you’re all serious about this and your tracking your results, right?  Well, for those of you that aren’t, you should.

Back in December Sharon Hurley Hall wrote about different stat tracking programs.  Go back and look at that post for a nice run down of a few of the many different programs that are available.  The best part about these programs is the cost…Free!!!  Some are better that others, so you’ll need to spend some time trying them out to see which one delivers what you want.  The most important thing is that you do something.

What you are looking for is a program that not only gives you the visitor count, but will give you some details about those visitors.  You want to know notjust overall count, but how many of them were unique visitors.  While total visitors is important, you need to be able to separate out the returning visitors from the ones that are there because of your current marketing efforts.  You also want to be able to see where the visitors are coming from.  If I am seeing a great deal of traffic from one effort, but hardly anything from another, I can scrap what isn’t working and focus my efforts on something new.

Remember though, most of the things you will be doing take time to really work.  This is especially true when your blog is young.  When your blog is more established and you have a larger reader base some things will happen faster, but early on you need to show a little patience and not abandon your efforts too soon.

Another thing that tracking your stats will do for you is to give you some insight into the many different ways people are finding you.  I always look at my visitors that come to my blogs through Google.  When I first started doing that I was surprised to see some of the things people were searching for when they found me.  That’s a useful bit of information.  In order to succeed I need to give my readers what they want.  By knowing what they are searching for, I can aim some of my posts to answer their questions.  That will keep them coming back for more.

A stat program will help you identify trends and patterns with your traffic.  I know from watching my stats that my visitor counts go up on my blogs every Wednesday when my post gets published onPureBlogging (thanks to those of you who are visiting).  I know that my restaurant blog tends to have more traffic on the weekend.  Knowing that helps me to know where to focus my energies.

Knowledge is power, and the more you know about what works and what doesn’t with your blog, the more successful you will be.

For many of us, the idea of generating a significant income on the internet is not just a dream; it is a goal that we work at on a regular basis. While it would be great to be able to write something that would bring a flood of traffic to our site, the truth is, it doesn’t usually happen that way. Oh, there are a few that happen to be in the right place at the right time, but for the majority, building a readership is a process that takes time.

Those who have worked their way up know that a vital piece in that process is building your network. That isn’t something that happens overnight. Don’t think you can sequester yourself away for a weekend, and come away with a well developed network. It takes consistent effort over time for your network to grow.

If you are new to this, forget about the flood of traffic. For now you need to focus on starting a trickle of traffic. Over time that trickle could become a small stream, and eventually a river. There are things you should be doing on a regular basis to get that trickle started. Later, after your network is large enough to support itself you will probably abandon, or at least reduce your efforts, on some of these, but in the beginning they are very effective.

Content

Anyone who is anyone in internet network building will tell you, “Content is King.” If you are going to spend the time and effort to attract people to your site, you need to make sure you have something for them when they get there. Great content will not only keep them on your site longer, and make them curious enough to pike around a little, it is content that will bring them back, and turn them into regular readers.

Despite the fact that this advice is so prevalent, many new bloggers treat this step as optional, or something to work at while you are doing all of the other steps. If that is you; Stop. By taking the time to work on great content before you start spending significant effort to attract traffic, you will see better returns on the time you’ve invested in the long run.

Without content, you are spending a lot of energy bringing in new visitors. they come to your blog, but they don’t find much of interest, so they leave. Now you have to spend your efforts trying to lure them back. The result: wasted time and wasted effort.

Start with concentrating on longer, more substantial articles. Short pieces are OK, and they can serve a purpose, but longer pieces tend to attract more attention. Make sure you have at least 8 - 10 of these articles in place before you start worry about traffic. Once those are in place, make sure you are posting new material on a regular basis. Keep it fresh and interesting. Also, don’t stop writing longer pieces just because you have your 8 - 10 opening pieces. Make sure you continue to add substantial pieces regularly.

Comment

Once your content is in place, you can start thinking about bringing a little traffic in. One great way to do that is to find blogs that would attract readers that are similar to the readers your are trying to attract. For instance, one of my other blogs focuses on owning and operating a successful restaurant. I wouldn’t see much success by commenting on a parenting blog. Instead, I focus my efforts on small business and entrepreneur focused blogs. I want to reach readers who are interested in running a small business, or may be thinking about getting into the restaurant business.

Once you have located a few appropriate blogs, begin commenting on articles that have been posted. Don’t just post a quick “Nice post” comment. Make sure you have something to add to the conversation. Find a point that the writer made, and take it a little deeper. You could also take issue with something the writer said, but be very careful with that tactic. You may hurt yourself in the long run if you come off as being adversarial.

One technique that some bloggers use is to occasionally use the comment to point back to a relevant piece on their own blog. Again, be smart if going that route. The article you are sending them to has to be directly relevant, and if you over use the technique, it will look like a cheap ploy to steal traffic.

The value of commenting on other blogs is that every comment is accompanied by your name, and a link back to your site. When you comment on a regular basis, readers start to recognize your name, and if you are making insightful comments, some of them will venture over to your site to see what else you have to say.

Trackbacks

Trackbacks are kind of an indirect method of building traffic. While readers aren’t led to your site by the trackback, it may catch the attention of the blogger you are linking to. If they like what you said, and they like some of the other posts on your site (great content), many of them will return the favor and link back to your site. If the blog tracking back to you is large, it could result in a nice increase in your traffic.

Try to focus on smaller to mid-sized blogs for the greatest benefit. While catching the attention of the big guys would mean a huge traffic bump, it is a lot harder to get noticed by them. The large, more popular blogs have huge readerships, and they get hundreds of trackbacks on a regular basis. While it can be done, it takes a great deal of consistent effort to see any effect.

A more effective strategy is to focus on smaller blogs, building a relationship, and growing together.

Guest Blogging

Monday, Steven Snell wrote about writing for money, and he made a couple of points that relate to building your network; writing for other blogs helps expand your network, and it helps to build name recognition.

This is another technique that can yield good results, but it doesn’t happen right away. Before you can expect someone to allow you to write for their blog, you have to show that you are capable of writing something worth reading (again, great content). When you focus your efforts on building your own blog, you can use your blog to market yourself to other bloggers.

There are a couple of ways to get guest blogging gigs. The first is, ask. Offer your services to a blog that you have built a relationship with. Like everyone else, bloggers are busy people. By having someone else writing an occasional post it frees up a little of their time. Some of them may offer to pay you for your efforts, but for now getting paid isn’t the issue. You are looking for opportunities to attract traffic to your site.
The second way to find other blogs to write for is to check out the freelance writing job boards. It is hard to write for a blog every day. Some blog owners decide that it is worth paying someone else to contribute, and they post those offers on job boards. If the subject is something you’re familiar with, you may end up with an ongoing way to build traffic.

Carnivals

While the popularity of Blog Carnivals seems to have diminished somewhat, it can still be a good way to get noticed. To take part in this, go to Blog Carnival ( and submit one of your posts. If your article is selected, everyone who subscribes to that carnival will get a notice about your article, along with a short blurb about the article. They can then go to your blog to read the full article. If your content is good, they will check to see what else you’ve written.

Compound Interest

Like investing, building traffic works on compound interest. You start with a trickle of traffic and build on that. As that trickle begins to grow, you will find more opportunities to reach greater numbers of readers. Over time, with consistent effort, your readership will grow, and eventually your network will reach a point that it grows by word of mouth.

It all starts with great content!

Social networks offer a variety of benefits for bloggers, writers, businesses and others. Below you will discover 13 ways you can benefit from the many social networks available on the Internet today:

1. Make new friends: Connect with others around the world who may share the same interests as you.

2. Reconnect with former classmates: Ever wonder where your best friend from high school or college went? You may come across them on social networks. Maybe you’re looking for an old flame. You just may find him or her on a social network site as well, and if you do, you can view their profile to see if they’re still available.

3. Find love: Social networks such as Match2020.com might help you find the soul mate you’ve been searching for all these years.

4. Share photos with your business associates, other bloggers, customers, family and friends: Share all your favorite pictures with family members and friends who live far away. Better yet, share photos of your products, business or anything you believe will benefit your growing list of business contacts with business associates, other bloggers and/or customers.

5. Share your success or expertise with the world: If you’re a writer, you can blog about your success or build your portfolio by blogging on your niche topic. Business owners, you can share your business successes, failures and knowledge with potential customers and other business owners. Whatever you decide to share will show others you know the business and it could help them learn from your mistakes.

6. Find a job or search for potential clients and/or customers: Are you searching for a writing, blogging or other job in your specialty? Social networks could have the job you’re looking for. And for those of you looking for potential clients and/or customers, social networks are a great place to start. Begin by creating a profile detailing your experience and/or products.

7. Interact with your customers and/or fans: Search social networks for your customers and fans. Once you find them, add them to your list of friends and communicate with them by offering discounts, specials, freebies and etc. Better yet, place a link to your social network on your blog or website and invite your customers and/or fans to add you to their friends.

8. Promote your business and/or services: Join as many social networks as you can, and then create a professional-looking profile that details your experience and the products or services you offer. Once your profile is live and you’re happy with it, seek out people that you believe may have an interest in what you’re offering. Next, add them to your list of friends.

9. Connect with other business professionals, bloggers or writers: Look for other business professionals, bloggers or writers and add them to your friends. You can then interact with them by sharing advice and more.

10. Find a distributor for your products: People looking to make money often hang out on social networks, and you could have just the product to help them.

11. Show off your undiscovered talent (writing, singing or etc.): Many social networks will allow you to write a blog as well as upload your music, photos and videos to share with millions. Take advantage of these features, because you never know who might discover your talent and contact you.

12. Find experts to interview: Do you need an expert for your article? Social networks are filled with experts on all subjects.

13. Keep up-to-date on your favorite celebrities: Find out the latest news on your favorite celebrity. Will your favorite celebrities be visiting your town next?

The above are only a few of the many ways you can benefit from social networks. Feel free to add to the list in our comments area.