INFORMATION CENTER

A Quick Guide to Understanding and Maximizing Communication Efforts for Blogging

Introduction to Weblogs

Blogging is the activity of publishing a weblog. Weblog or blog for short, is a frequently updated website where your articles or content are published in a chronological order with a date and time stamp associated with that particular entry. You can think of blogging as journaling on the web. Instead of opening up a journal and writing an entry, you simply type your entry into your weblog using your computer and the internet. In your case, you are writing or updating your weblog about a certain topic or theme of interest to you like nutrition or diabetes or sports drinks or skincare - whatever niche you are most interested and knowledgeable in.

Once you understand blogs' unique rules of the game, you can use them not only as promotion platforms but also as a means to a conversation with your customers or potential customers.

Technically speaking, blogs are just like any other website on the internet. They exist solely online, are capable of accepting advertising and are designed to be consumed by a specific audience - either the general public or a targeted niche group.

Sample Blog

The popularity of blogs is primarily due to four factors:

1. Many services will host blogs at no charge. There are several popular blog-hosting services available on the web such as Blogger (a Google-owned company), Bloglines (now owned by AskJeeves), and LiveJournal (owned by SixApart) which offer free basic hosting with extra features available for a monthly fee. There are other companies such as TypePad that charge for all levels of service.

2. Blogs have given an outlet to anyone who feels his or her voice has not been represented in the mainstream media. Blogs enable anyone to become a micro-publisher virtually overnight.

3. Blogs are timely, allowing for content updates at any time without an editorial review and without sophisticated knowledge of web publishing. The immediacy of blogs gives them the leverage to pick up on breaking news stories and instantly create their own stories with new angles and investigations. In fact, the most popular blogs tend to be those that are updated often.

4. There is a strong sense of community among blog writers and visitors. Because most blogs are not regulated by an editorial board or influenced by corporate interests, visitors rely on them for the unvarnished truth. They also value the transparency that blogs have. Unlike mainstream media, whose philosophy is geared toward keeping the audience on their own site, blogs thrive on posting links to other sites of interest, even other blogs that cover the same topic. The audience of one blog immediately has access to a wide range of opinions and styles.

Types of Blogs There are four general types of blogs in existence:

1. Personal blogs that focus on a passion or hobby. Many people start a blog to express their personal opinions or share their interests and knowledge with others. These types of blogs can still have an enormous impact on a company spreading the current version of "word of mouth."

2. Topic or industry-specific blogs are perhaps the most pervasive type, covering everything from current events to marketing/public relations to home entertainment to nutritional supplementation. Bloggers are often acknowledged experts in their specific industry who have a built-in audience.

3. Publication-sponsored blogs are growing as traditional media outlets seek to ride the blog wave. Increasingly, newspapers, magazines and even television and radio stations are adding blogs to their websites. These blogs tend to be written by an established journalist with the publication and have been added to lend a sense of immediacy to the content.

4. Corporate blogs are another relatively new addition to the blog world. The best ones are written by an executive within the company and are devoted to that company. You won't find here the extensive list of outside links or freedom of opinion that is to be found on other blogs. Corporate blogging is still in its infancy and is just beginning to find its place as part of an overall corporate communications effort.

Using Blogs as a Marketing Tool

There are many advantages of publishing a blog in conjunction with your business website. You can easily post clips about industry-related content, articles, breaking news or just about anything to build awareness for what you are selling.Publishing a business blog gives your subscriber or prospect a chance to get to know you better. Through your blog, you can explain how your life has changed due to the product(s) that you are selling. This can potentially help you to secure a sale. A blog can also be highly interactive if you also allow comments. Blogging provides a good avenue to establish some level of trust and security for an online prospect who has never met you.

How To Get People To Read Your Blog

1. Have a general theme and state this theme at the top or in a prominent location in your blog. Creating a general theme helps attract a group of targeted readers. However, do strike a balance. You don't also want too narrow a theme. Otherwise, you may find yourself having difficulty finding new things to talk about in your blog every few days.

2. Be current in what you post. Don't report about events that happened one year ago. You can refer to the particular event if relevant and/or via a link. For these past events, assume that people already know about them.

3. Keep a regular schedule. When readers return to your blog, they want to read about something new. Be sure to manage your readers' expectations.

4. Post frequently. Search engine spiders love sites that are constantly updated with fresh content. At the very least, posting once every few days is a good idea.

5. Keep your posts clear and concise. Don't post long essays. Blog readers are known to like to zip in and out of online diaries. Keep your long essays to articles that you can publish on a separate webpage or in your newsletter.

6. Make your title keyword-rich. This helps in getting your posts better ranked by search engine spiders via the keywords that you use.

7. Post interesting content. No one is going to be interested in what you ate for breakfast. Not unless you are maintaining a food blog and you want to post your breakfast recipe! Making your content interesting will ensure that your readers continue to read your blog loyally.

8. Have a unique perspective. Readers are interested to know what you think. If you are offering your opinion, be sure that you are able to qualify them.

9. Take note of your language and grammar…even if you are posting an opinion. It is always safer to write in proper English if you are hoping to monetize from your blog.

10. Get your downline involved in your blog. Be sure to let them know to continually check your blog for updated industry information, your personal experiences with the products and other information relative to their business. Have them leave comments on your blog.