Longtime No See, Eh?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I haven’t blogged for awhile. This has been a pretty interesting year, but I should have some time in the near future to start blogging again.

Who knows, maybe this time, I’ll actually focus on something?

Blog advertising and business

I’ve been blogging casually since my days as a third-year college student. I think I had a total of four people who I knew read my blogs every day or at least once a week. Now, I’ve jumped on the whole Web 2.0 bandwagon and been more active in social networking. Some believe that sites like Twitter, which I enjoy for short updates, will take over blogging, but blogging really creates more personal expression. In business, it adds even more than what a simple micro-blogging site can do. If done correctly, blogging can be a powerful advertising tool.

Here’s what I think bloggers, specifically business and manager-level bloggers, need to do to effectively draw readers to their blog:

1. Fresh content. Bloggers should update their blogs three or more times a week for them to be truly effective and continuously attract visitors.
2. Personality. Most of the blogs I read give probably between 50 to 90 percent personal thoughts or ideas while the rest is dedicated to the facts of what they’re talking about.
3. Accuracy. Giving accurate information—bonus points for providing a hyperlink that opens in a new browser window or tab—is key in making a blog credible and worth following.
4. Clean content. Blogs don’t necessarily need superb grammar, but they have to be readable. Using spell check can never hurt.

For people to visit a blog that contains these four fundamentals, the blogger needs to invest some time in blog advertising. This can be done in a variety of ways online, such as through social networks, search engine optimization (SEO), and e-mail signatures. Another good way to promote a blog is to frequently leave comments on newsgroups, forums, and articles. Tons of people read comments, so that’s a sure-fire way to attract a new audience.

Going the monetization route, but not entirely

In an effort to help with funding of this Web site, I’m going to start placing ad links in certain blogs that I write. The links will not be cost-per-click links; instead, they will be affiliate links, similar to the image ads on the Ads page. Not each post will have one, so if you’re really against this subtle, almost passive marketing technique, don’t worry.

If I mention a neat product or service like, say, a moderate interest rate on a savings account from ING Direct, then I would add a link to the company’s name, directing you to the site in a new window or tab. (Speaking of which, I just signed up for an Orange Savings Account through this bank last night. It’s definitely worth a look!)

While this is going on, I’m continuing to market this site to a larger audience. Comments to blog posts are always welcome, especially if you have an idea to expand on or to introduce.

Thanks for helping to keep this site running. It’s been a lot of fun so far!

Windows Live Writer test...

If using Windows Live Writer actually works, it would sure be a swell way to post entries, rather than logging in to Blogger. Then, I could write blog entries while I'm not connected to the Internet.

McSweetness.