Share Blog Content on Your Facebook Fan Page

If you've spent a lot of time designing a blog and have made every effort to monetize it, why not share your blog writing ability on your Facebook fan page? Here are some important steps to take in setting up your fan page within your own personal profile.

Click on “Brand or Product” in the upper right corner. This will prompt you to choose a category. Choose “Website”. In the box labeled “Brand or Product”, enter the name of your blog. Check “I agree to Facebook Pages Terms” and click “Get Started”.

Step #2 – You will be asked to upload a profile picture or logo. If you don’t have one or haven’t decided on the right image, just skip it. You can add that later. Click “Save photo” or “Skip”.

5 Key Benefits of Blog Writing for Small Business

Blogging can be good for business.

According to the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA), blogging for business provides small business owners with unprecedented ways of engaging large audiences in ways that a business website could never do. So, whether you decide to take care of the blog writing yourself or choose to hire a professional blog writer, blogging is a great opportunity to grow your business. Let’s look at 5 key benefits of blog writing for small business.

Blogging For Business Helps Strengthen Your Brand And Allows You To Stand Out

To succeed in starting a small business today, you must stand out above the crowd. A blog allows you to pinpoint the things that make your business unique. Quality blog content that answers questions and provides useful information will give you the added advantage you need to stand out.

Blog Writing When You Think You Have Nothing to Blog About

Blog writing is one of the best ways to show the human side of your business. You may have been thinking about starting a business blog, but just don’t know where to start or you may even feel that your business doesn’t really fit into the blogging scene. Let’s take a closer look at blog writing even when you think you have nothing to blog about.

Even though business owners understand that business blogging is a great way to attract new customers, some find it hard to see how blog writing can work for their particular business. The following list of blog post ideas could work for just about any business.

New Blog Writing Course at Udemy

"Learn to be a Professional Blog Writer" - Blog writing course.

I'm thrilled to announce the launch of my new 34-lecture Udemy blog writing course, "Learn to be a Professional Blog Writer - No Degree Required." After a decade of freelance blog writing and teaching others how to craft unique blog content, it’s about time I get my act together and put together an online blog writing course, right?!

My success in blogging was made possible by the months of learning, attempting, tweaking, tinkering and trying every option possible. I guess you could say it was mostly trial and error. This course was designed to help you avoid the mistakes I made and bypass the many hours of research. That way, when you make a mistake, it will be a new one of your own.

This course is based on the cardinal rule of blog writing:

“Successful blog writing requires that you write on schedule and that you always place your readers’ interests above your own. “

Monetize Your Blog: Spreadshirt T-Shirt Shop

You may have already thought about opening your own T-shirt printing business, but found the high cost of materials, supplies, and equipment a little overwhelming. Well, now there is a solution to your problem - a virtual T-shirt shop with no overhead! That's right, you can monetize your blog by selling the shirts, but you don't have to buy, print, or ship them. Take a quick look at my first virtual T-shirt shop.

Open your virtual T-Shirt shop at Spreadshirt.com

Blogging: Part of an Integrated Marketing Strategy

The website Marketing-Schools.org, defines integrated marketing as:

"A marketing strategy that stresses the importance of a consistent, seamless, multi-dimensional brand experience for the consumer."

An effective integrated marketing strategy must communicate a consistent identity from message to message and from medium to medium. A well-managed business blog is more influential than social networks in shaping consumers' opinions and purchasing decisions. Small and large business are realizing that blogging is not just a way of sharing thoughts and ideas, but a way to develop a loyal fan base and build a brand. Let's take a look at some very important reasons why blogging is important in integrated marketing communications.

Content Marketing: Should you hire blog writers?

Hiring experienced blog writers can make the right connections.

Anyone can write a blog article, right? But you see, that's not the main concern of most business owners who understand the importance of blogging. The problem comes when it's time to write a blog article and all the ideas have already been taken, or so some think. If you are really serious about making the right connection with a target audience, the next person you hire should be a blog writer.

An Experienced Blog Writer Gets Ideas From Other People's Heads

It is true, if you can think of it, someone has probably written a blog article about it. A seasoned blog writer understands that all ideas can't be original. The talent and expertise comes into play when a blog writer takes a well-discussed topic and, by creating a different angle to the story, makes the subject fresh and new again.

Teamwork Has Personal Benefits

In my 30 years of sales and marketing, I have probably heard -"There's no "I" in team! about a gazillion times. Well, any cotton-headed ninny muggins can see that! The thing that no one ever bothered to tell me is that teamwork can benefit every member of the team on a personal level - hence, putting the imaginary "I" in team.

Teamwork Brings Different Minds to the Same Problem

Do you agree that no two people's life experiences are the same? If so, that would mean that everything you have learned through your experiences is totally different from your coworkers. Collaborating on an issue not only solves the problem but also creates enthusiasm for learning new skills and ideas. These newly learned skills will benefit each team member for the rest of their careers.

Freelance Writing for Stay-at-Home Moms or Dads

Stay-at-home Moms and Dads make excellent freelance writers.

Do you love to write? Have you ever thought about being a freelance writer, but have let your busy life as a stay-at-home Mom or Dad get in the way of writing? You just may want to give your passion for writing a closer look.

 

Freelance writers earn extra cash at home

There are certainly many different ways to earn some extra money from home. Freelance writing has become a popular choice for those who enjoy writing and want to get better at it. Your goal may be to write a best-selling piece of fiction or write blog articles for the many different businesses who have outsourced all their web content writing. Either way, you should get started now and explore the many opportunities out there waiting.

 

Skills of a freelance writer

Many people hesitate to start a freelance writing career because they don't have a degree in journalism or some other writing field. As a Mom or Dad, you probably already possess the skills of persistence, time management,dedication and patience. All you need to do is to take these skills and apply them to your writing and you'll be one step closer to becoming a successful freelance writer.

Tools of a freelance writer

If you were to start a traditional home based business, more than likely you would be required to purchase training materials and inventory. To launch your career as a freelance writer, here's all you need:

• Computer

• Word Processor

• Internet connection

If you are like most people, you already have all the necessary tools to get started.

Optimize Blog Articles On Blogger

Optimizing blog articles on Blogger

Blogger is an excellent free blog writing platform provided by Google. The problem with Blogger is sometimes you have to get creative in applying different search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to improve search rankings.

The title of your blog article is probably the most important element, because it contains the focused keywords you want people to type in the search box to find your article. The templates used in Blogger, by default, place the title of your blog in front of your article title. Let's do a little exercise just to better show you what I'm talking about.

Step 1. Open a blog article on your blog.

Step 2. Right click on the page and select "View Page Source".

Step 3. Click anywhere on the page and then select "Ctrl + F" (You will now see a search box.)

Step 4. Type <title> in the search box and hit "Enter". You will now see the title tag highlighted.

Is Guest Blogging Still Important?

Guest blogging is OK as long as it isn't "Spam" blogging!

In January 2014, Matt Cutts, head of Google's Webspam team, made the statement -

 "So stick a fork in it: guest blogging is done; it’s just gotten too spammy." 

Many took this statement to mean that they should not submit a guest article or approve a guest writer under any circumstances. If you will read this entire article carefully, you will find that Mr. Cutts further clarified his comment:

"There are still many good reasons to do some guest blogging (exposure, branding, increased reach, community, etc.). Those reasons existed way before Google and they’ll continue into the future. "

So, what does all this mean to you?

New Blog Writing Course Just Released at Udemy

Learn to be a Professional Blog Writer [No Degree Required]

After spending over a decade writing blog articles for my own blogs and assisting other freelancers in their writing journey, I thought it was time for me to design an online blog writing course. I am excited to announce that I have just published my course, "Learn to be a Professional BlogWriter - No Degree Required" on Udemy.

Why people aren't blogging

Many people see the need for blogging and want to become successful blog writers, but they hesitate for many reasons, including:

• Don't know where to start
• Don't think people will read it
• Don't feel they are good writers
• Don't have a journalism degree
• Feel like what they would write about has already been done
• Don't have the time to post regularly

6 Blog Writing Mistakes That Can Sink Your Blog

Blog writing mistakes can affect search engine placement

It seems that everyone is talking about blogging. Businesses have turned to them as a highly effective marketing tool. A quality business blog can help you increase traffic to your website, establish your business, and allow you to speak directly to your customers. Successful blogging takes a lot of time, patience and commitment. Let's look at 6 common blog writing mistakes that can sink your blog.

Many blog writers assume everyone will read their posts

In this age of text messaging and social media, no one seems to communicate in complete sentences anymore. As a result, people have become scanners. They don't actually read an entire blog post, they scan for words or images to get an idea of what a particular article is about. Bolding key concepts of your post draws the readers attention to them. Eye-catching headings and subheadings makes it easier for your readers to understand the main ideas of your post.

Freelance Writing Just Got Better

Co-written by Ken Bradford & Dr. Deborah Bauers

It has been both a privilege and an adventure in co-writing "Writing Better Web Content" with my good friend and colleague, Dr. Deborah Bauers. This book consists of 14 chapters intended to help all writers at all levels to be better storytellers and learn how to better promote their work.

What makes this book different or better?

There are certainly enough books out there to tell us how to write better content, but most of the books I've read don't go into much detail about applying the lessons being taught to the actual everyday experiences and challenges of freelance writers.

Freelance Writers Must Deliver Unique Content

Unique content delivers unique value to the reader

Many content writers seem to get confused about writing quality and unique content. You can
certainly write a quality blog post and still have it rank poorly in the search. The reason could be that the post, even though unique in nature, didn’t actually provide any unique value to the user.

Let’s look at some characteristics that indicate blog and web content isn’t unique unless it delivers unique value to the reader.

The First Key To Successful Blog and Web Content Is Quality

 

Google’s quality guidelines indicates quality content must be unique, valuable, and engaging. These guidelines also ask the question – “Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?” Quality content provides real answers to people’s questions. It’s content that people can easily digest and appreciate because it entertains them or tells them how to do something. Quality content is content that gets quoted, linked to, and shared.

SEO Blog Writing Tips [Infographic]

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Freelance Writers Creating Evergreen Content

Evergreen content is not timeless, just sustainable.

When you think of “evergreen”, more than likely the pine tree in your back yard or at the park comes to mind.  Evergreen content in your blog or website, like the tree,  stays fresh and alive for long periods.

Many companies have built their businesses using evergreen content marketing techniques. Let’s look at how to create evergreen content that stays relevant to your audience.


Companies like eHow, Wikipedia, IMDB, and About.com have managed to build very large audiences on content that others have created years ago.  These companies manage to keep the information evergreen because editors keep the information current.

It is important to understand that evergreen content is not necessarily timeless; it is content that can be sustained to remain fresh and current.

Improving Your Blog Writing Image On Google Plus

Customizing Google Plus to share blog articles

You may be one who feels that improving your blog and web content image on Google Plus isn’t that important.  Google Plus is now the second most popular social network and many businesses are starting to realize that fact.

Would you believe that images can help you become more successful in social media marketing? Why? When you share blog or website content and don’t include an attractive, attention-grabbing image, you are just sharing yet another plain-text status update.

People are in a hurry and oftentimes are drawn to a blog post or web page by the photo or graphic first, and then they may decide to actually read the article.

There is one simple way of improving your blog and web content image on Google Plus.
Sharing blog and other web content on your Google Plus page is really not that difficult. All you have to do is insert a share link or button somewhere at the top or bottom of your post, sign in to your Google Plus account and wham! – It’s shared. But wait a minute; the post now looks something like this:

It's shared but it sure is plain!

In Business Blog Writing Does The Length Of The Blog Post Really Matter?

Is the length of a blog article related to its quality?

Freelance blog writing is not as simple as posting to Facebook or other social media.  Successful
business blogging takes planning and the time and patience to deliver quality content to your target audience.  There is a lot of discussion on the right length of a good blog post, but in business blog writing, does the length of the blog post really matter?

Examples Of Blog Elements In Business Blog Writing

 

Let’s look at five elements of a quality blog article and hypothetically assign a word count to each element:

• Title/Heading:  8 words

• Introduction:  80 words

• Conclusion:  75 words

• Call to Action: 70 words

In this example, your article is already 233 words in length and you haven’t written the body of the article yet.  Let’s assume that the body of your article will contain three paragraphs of 75 words each; that would make your entire article 458 words, plus the by-line. This might be sufficient for non-technical articles, but the important thing is – is it long enough to get the job done?

Social Media Marketing: Should All Of Your Social Profiles Look The Same?

Social profiles for freelance blog writers must be unique.

A very important question to ask – “When you follow someone on a social network, do you also
follow the same person or business on other social channels?” If you do, it might be a little boring to see identical information presented in the same format across all channels. So, to be successful in social media marketing, should all of your social profiles look the same or should each one be treated differently?

There Are Elements Of Your Social Profiles That Should Remain Consistent 

 

Whether your social media marketing involves selling shoes or you are a freelance writer, your goal in Internet marketing should be to build a brand. There are certain elements of your profiles that should stay the same in all social networks, including:

• Branding: People must learn to recognize your brand by a certain logo, color, and even your font selection on the web. Once you have established these characteristics for your brand, keep them consistent in all social networks.

• Profile Photo (Avatar): Online relationships are driven by face-to-face contact. Don’t use your logo or other cute graphic, unless you are already a well recognized brand. Anytime you are asked to upload a profile picture, always use the same one. Do not change your avatar on a whim. It’s a good idea to go to gravatar.com and register your profile photo. Once registered, the same photo will show in all of your comments across the web; as long as you always use the same email address.

• Contact Info: Always use the same address, phone number and email address across all platforms for obvious reasons.