You know, normally you can find a definition of a word or phrase by typing “define: your phrase here” into google and come up with a lot of results. Currently there are millions of blogs and there are hundreds of people who call themselves “Blog or Blogging Consultants”, yet when you type “define: Blogging Consultant or Blogging Consultant” into google you get no definition.

That is probably a good thing for most blogging consultants because without a definition, there is no standard to hold them to. I’m not claiming to be the blogging guru of all time or anything of the sort. So before you “blogging consultants” out there start getting defensive about this, think before you write. If you get too nasty about the post I may ask you to define “blogging consultant” and without google many of you couldn’t do it.

Now that is out of the way, lets talk business. Every business should have a blog. There are so many reasons for your business to have a blog it would be hard to write them all in one blog post, so lets assume you know your company needs a blog.

So do you hire a blogging consultant? What qualifications do you look for in a blogging consultant? What does a blogging consultant look like? How much should I pay a blogging consultant?

Lets start with “Should you hire a blogging consultant?”

The quick answer is yes, but lets go into why first. There are a lot of things that go into making a blog popular. Technorati tags, submissions and pings to bloglists and blogsearch websites, learning how to get on the right blogrolls, etc.

If you are new to blogging it takes awhile to catch on to most of these things and most blogging consultants say that all of the above is necessary if you are going to have a successful blog.

There are more things to add to the list but this article isn’t about how to run a successful blog, it’s about blogging consultants. Hiring a blogging consultant can save you from making a lot of early mistakes and get your blog found a lot quicker than trying to do it on your own.

Now all the blogging consultants are liking me again. I can tell. But will it last?

What qualifications do you look for in a blogging consultant?

Here is where things get ugly between me and the blogging consultants. Most blogging consultants are . . . well . . . bloggers. Many of them have what they think is a successful blog although many bloggers have different ideas for what success is.

Some think it’s defined as how much they made on google adnonsense last month. Others count success by number of visitors to their website or the number of comments that appear on their blog. Still others measure their success by what the other bloggers think about them.

What do all of those bloggers who are blogging consultants have in common? They all think that having a successful blog automatically makes you a qualified blogging consultant. I told you it was going to get nasty. After this article if I measured my success by what the other bloggers think of me then I’m doomed!

Fortunately I don’t measure my success in terms of what the other bloggers and blogging consultants think. Lets get back to those qualifications for a blogging consultant.

First of all a blog is a website. It is a website that is updated often in most cases, but it is still a website. Each blogpost becomes a page of that website. So with a blog you are creating more webpages to your website as often as you post to your blog.

Now I have a question for you. Would you first look to hire a blogger to do search engine optimization for your website? Would you first look to hire a blogger to handle your AdWords campaign? Would you first look for a blogger to build your website for you?

The answer to all of the above is probably no, unless the blogger also has experience in those fields and not just for their blog. Actual websites they have built, optimized, and marketed for themselves and for clients.

A blogging consultant should not just be a blogger. They should also have all of the skills necessary to run a website. Now the blogging consultants are all mad at me again. But think about it. Many bloggers know how to write. They know how to get into the right circle of blogger friends who will link to them. They know about blogging.

So if all you need to know is how to write a blog, then hiring a blogger who knows how to write is the answer, but if you need someone who is going to manage your blog for you including posting to the blog, search engine optimization, link popularity, (and not just from blogrolls), and marketing, then you need to hire a webmaster who also blogs.

Okay, How much should I pay a blogging consultant?

How much do you have? Just kidding. A lot depends on the type of blog you want or have. A corporation blog has to pay more, not because they have more, but because there are all kinds of legal and policy matters that have to be considered with every single blog post and every single link to or from another blog or website. A small business blog doesn’t have many of the same issues as the corporate blog, but still has certain standards that need to be met.

If you have ever hired a webmaster, not a web designer, a webmaster, (Thats another article), or a Search Engine Optimization Company, or a Search Engine Marketer, or even just a Marketing Consultant, (The just was in there just so I could make consultants mad again.), then you have an idea of what a blogging consultant should cost.

Now keep in mind, if you are hiring a blogging consultant to strictly teach you how to blog, then it’s not worth as much money as when you hire a blogging consultant who is also going to perform all of the services a Webmaster and Internet Marketer would provide plus search engine optimization.

Ha ha! I still didn’t say how much it costs. It’s coming. Read on.

What does a Blogging Consultant look like?

He or she looks like someone who has more than just a blog or blogs. Someone who also owns and manages several websites for themselves and for clients. As I said before a blog is still a website.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Blogging, Blogs, Consultant, Definition Of A Word, Google, Guru, Like, Look, Lot, Phrase, Pings, Submissions, Technorati Tags

The blogging phenomenon has started to make companies view the potential benefits of corporate blogging. They all agree that blogs achieve a mass media effect through the high level of networking in the blogosphere wherein news disseminates very rapidly. The blogosphere (online community of blogs and their writings) has heralded a new communication tool that can influence public opinion of a company. However, companies are slow to react to the growing credibility of corporate blogs as communication channels.

A recent list of Fortune 500 company blogs shows that only 5% of the United States’ corporations have joined the blogging arena. Companies are treading this still unfamiliar territory with caution and skepticism. Company executives, public relations people and legal experts are just starting to figure out how they can utilize the potential of business blogs without subjecting themselves especially their companies to possible complications. Indeed, some companies are hesitant to plunge into the “scary” world of blogging for fear of encountering legal and business risks inherent in blogging such as libel, slander, lawsuits and disclosure of confidential and proprietary information.

Despite the fear, some industry leaders like Microsoft, IBM, Sun Microsystems and General Motors, to name a few, have dived headlong into corporate blogging. These companies recognize that a blog is an immensely effective yet low cost way to boost corporate communications and marketing objectives and at the same time connect with customers and prospects.

Basically, a blog (short for weblog) is published with easy to use software that enables a blogger (blog author) to create and update blog pages from which he can express his thoughts on a particular subject. Written article on a blog is called a “post” and can be linked to other blogs, websites, news features, photo images and audio files. Links added to the text of blog posts allow blog content to be indexed and accessed by popular search engines such as Technorati and then disseminated in the web.

A corporate blog makes it easy for readers, be they customers or prospects, to find the latest and most accurate information about its new products and services. It can help achieve customer familiarity with the company products or services. Through the corporate blog, a company can converse directly with customers and prospects. Two-way communication creates trust and builds customer relationships. A corporate blog is the perfect choice for interacting with existing and potential clients. Corporate blogging serves as a channel for a company and its customers to meet on common ground and to know each other more. A corporate blog allows a company to closely track where and under what condition its products or services are being discussed online. Through the corporate blog, a company can keep an ear to the ground to hear what is being said about the company and speaking up when the situation calls for it. A more personal or understated benefit of a corporate blog is that it gives a human face to a perceived faceless and detached business entity. A corporate blog conjures images of people who are passionate about their products or services and are eager to engage customers and prospects.

It is a risky world out there and the blogosphere is no exception. For companies who are contemplating on setting out into the world of corporate blogging, it is in your best interests to have knowledge of some basic dos and don’ts of corporate blogging.

First on the agenda is do determine whether your company needs a corporate blog. A blog might be inappropriate for your company. Not all corporate cultures can tolerate the open, direct communication inherent to make a corporate blog successful. There are instances where blogs could not be reconciled with business practices and regulations. Clearly, there are risks to consider. Risks lie mainly in the content and the character or tone of comments which admittedly can only be censored to a limited degree.

If a corporate blog can fit your company culture, selecting the individual or employee who will write your blog is doubtless to say the most important decision. An ideal corporate blogger is one who is an expert in his field. He should also write with passion and sincerity. The object of your blog is to engage your customers and prospects in conversation and the most effective way to start a conversation is to be sincere and honest in your blog while writing about topics that are important to your company. He should have good writing skills. More importantly, he should be one who is respected by his peers and reacts calmly to outbursts. Blogging is an intense medium. The individuals who will blog for your company should be the ones who can keep their cool despite critical comments. Most likely, the ideal individual is not your CEO. Corporate speak won’t thrive in the blogosphere.

In corporate blogging, goals/missions are of prime importance. For a blog to yield value, it has to be created with specific goals in mind. Some of these goals may be to increase company credibility, enhance customer service and interaction, and give customers a peek of the behind-the-scenes “feel” of the corporate culture, showcase new products or services and more. The important thing is to be clear about your goals. You have to be sure about what you are trying to get done and stick to them. As with any corporate undertaking, you also need to periodically evaluate how well you are meeting these goals. If blogging is proving to be futile, then make changes. If it still does not work, then discontinue blogging.

Do take time to know your customers or prospects. Find out what your audience care about, what they are interested in. You have to identify what their needs are and what service you can perform for them. To get their attention, work out a way to participate in a conversation credibly. To be credible, come up with worthwhile content – ideas, insights, news and information. Content need not be long but should be interesting. Corporate blogs should not veer away from its chosen categories or topics. This is not to say you cannot be personal in your blog posts because you should, but the audience you are trying to connect with do not want to read through your blog if it is injected with a litany of personal rumblings.

Do engage your audience in lively and substantial conversations. Take into account what they say and reply to their comments. Respond in a professional and businesslike manner whether the comment is positive or negative. Allowing comments from your audience will definitely mean some complaints and criticisms. Don’t take them personally. Respond honestly and your company credibility will rise. Allowing audience to make comments is a distinct characteristic of blogs. Openness is important for successful blogging. That said, use a feedback filter or comment moderation to monitor and control comments and delete comment spam (useless comments).

For a blog to accomplish its mission, do update regularly. Post frequently and consistently, daily or weekly, at least. Do be generous with your links. Linking is one reason why blogging has become a popular online communication medium. The best corporate blogs, more often than not, have lots of links in each blog post.

Do draw up a set of corporate blogging policies. Set limits on what information can be made public. Make clear what is allowed and what is not. Legal issues crop up in blogging. It is better to have some safety nets. In drafting blogging policies, it is advisable to do some research on it and publish proposed policies to get some feedback.

As for what not to do, do not close down existing employee blogs. More often than not, an employee is already writing a blog. It might be full of grievances about the recent spate of oil increases or it could be snapshots of a relaxing vacation in the Maldives. Maybe this employee is singing praises of the company’s new product. Why not engage this employee blogger in a dialogue about what your corporate blog aims to achieve. Don’t wait for a crisis to break out before creating a corporate blog. It takes time to see potential results of blogging. Don’t keep your corporate bloggers anonymous or hidden behind some make-believe characters. The audience will know and it will have detrimental effects.

Lastly, a blog is not a miracle cure. It will not single-handedly turn your distressed company around. Corporate blogging should be incorporated with other marketing and communication tools to achieve desired results.

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Blogosphere, Business Risks, Communication Channels, Communication Tool, Company Executives, Corporate, Corporate Communications, Do's, Don'ts, Fortune 500 Company, Industry Leaders, Legal Experts, Libel Slander, List Of Fortune 500, Marketing Objectives, New Communication, Photo Images, Proprietary Information, Scary World, Skepticism, Sun Microsystems, Unfamiliar Territory, Written Article

Want to Work at Home? There are many ways to make money online working from home. Career blogging is one of those ways. Career bloggers are in high demand. Businesses realize the many benefits of a company blog. These companies are willing to pay you to blog, usually on a contract basis. In addition, there are numerous sites that pay you to host links and ads on your own blog or to provide a review of the site on your blog.

Getting Started as a Career Blogger

First you will need to create your own blog. This will serve as your portfolio or blogging resume. Two popular blog sites are blogger.com and wordpress.com. First you need to decide what to blog about. Since you will be blogging for businesses, you could show off your business-sense in your blog. If you are a marketer, you could blog about sales and marketing. Blog about a topic you are very familiar with or an expert in. If there’s a particular niche that you want to blog about for hire, show your expertise on the subject in your own blog.

Getting Your First Blogging Jobs

Now that you have your blog, you need to get hired. Use your About or Profile on your blog to advertise your availability as a career blogger. You can also Google blogger job or blogging jobs and browse the search results. You’ll likely find dozens of search results for blogging jobs. Other resources for finding blogging jobs are Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com and HotJobs.com. Just submit your resume and contact info to be contacted by companies looking for professional bloggers.

Get Paid To Blog

The following sites pay you to put links/ads in your blog or to place a site/product review for the company in your blog.

Bloggerwave.com

An opportunity awaiting all bloggers! Give your valuable feedback to advertisers with respect to their web sites, products, services, and companies and get paid for it.

blogitive.com

* Earn money with every posting

* Get paid weekly via Paypal

* No advertising required, just your opinions

* Only post the stories that interest you

* Create multiple blogs to earn more

* Does not conflict with ad campaigns on your site

PayPerPost.com

Get paid for blogging. Write about web sites, products, services, and companies and earn cash for providing your opinion and valuable feedback to advertisers.

BuzzByBlog.com

BuzzByBlog pays you to place ads on your website or blog. Just register as a blogger, receive offers, write, and get paid. They allow you to decide the minimum amount you will accept per entry, make counter-offers, and easy blog acceptance.

BloggingAds.com

Pays you to post an ad on your blog. Blogging Ads provides the ads and the money … you just place the ad on your blog. You must have a paypal account.

Blogsvertise.com

Get paid to write a review for advertisers in your blogs. Reviews in blogs create a buzz about a site or product and you’ll be getting paid to create this buzz in your blog.

CREAMaid.com

Place a widget on your blog and an ad and get paid via Paypal within 24 hours.

InBlogAds.com

With InBlogAds you can buy simple, direct HTML links on blogs. Increase both your traffic and natural search engine rankings. Get Bloggers to review your products or website. Generate buzz and get some links all in the same time.

ReviewMe.com

This new company was launched on Nov.9! They pay between $20.00-$200.00 for a review! Submit your blog. Once you are accpeted and receive an offer, you must write a post with a minimum of 200 words. You can receive payment by check or paypal. They pay on the first of every month. This is the highest paying company!

LoudLaunch.com

Earn more with your blog. Get paid to independently review LoudLaunch Campaign Releases. You’ve earned your audience, now be compensated for your opinion.

Smorty.com

Get paid for blogging. Write your opinion about peoples products, services and websites on your blog. Get paid weekly. No advertising, just write your opinions

* Earn top $ with every opinion post

* Select the subjects that interest you

* Post in multiple blogs to earn more

* Build interesting, unique content in your Blog

* Get paid weekly by PayPal

PayU2Blog.com

Make money blogging. Earn quick money by completing easy assignments in your blog. They pay you to mention products, services and companies, on your blog.

WeblogsInc.com

Apply to blog for one of their 90 blogs or suggest a blog topic and maybe they’ll start a new blog! WIN bloggers are paid to blog as little or as much as they like, are unfiltered, and can shift from blog to blog within the network. Their only requirements are that you be totally honest with your audience and passionate about the subjects you cover. Talk to their editorial team if you’re interested!

CreativeWeblogging.com

Get paid to blog with Creative Weblogging! They are one of the largest blog networks, with over 90 blogs in five languages.They will help grow your online reputation, establish you as a thought leader — and pay you, too.

CreativeWeblogging.com Compensation Package:

* Monthly compensation: $225 (US) — paid via PayPal or Moneybookers

* 7 to 10 posts per week are required.

* Traffic bonuses for aggressively growing traffic are available, up to $50 per month additional.

* Access to their vibrant community discussion group with 80+ bloggers, where you can share tips and network.

* They take care of all the technology, with an advanced blogging platform.

* They also provide marketing support.

* Virtual shares program: blog with them for a year and you can earn virtual shares in the company.

BloggerParty.com

Welcome. Join the party, where people from around the world join together to share their thoughts, ideas, rants, daily journals, reviews, and lives with each other each and every day. Write about what you want, when you want, meet people, and have fun. Plus, make some money doing it, too.

b5media.com/b5media-music-channel/

b5media is looking for writers to cover a wide range of genres, geographic locations, bands and interests. They’re also looking to cover specific bands who are newsworthy and blogworthy such as U2, the Beatles and Justin Timberlake. How to apply: Fill out a blogger application at: b5media.com/jobs. Please be sure to include any URLs of your writing samples.

Technorati Tags: Advertisers, Bloggers, Bloggerwave, Blogging, Blogitive, Business Sense, Career, Cash, Contract Basis, Dozens, Finding Jobs, Get Paid To Blog, Google, Home Career, Marketer, Monster, Niche, Paid To Blog, Resume, Sales And Marketing, Search Jobs, Ways To Make Money, Working From Home

Now, I am going to give you 9 powerful tips you must take into your action seriously for your blog online marketing. With those tips, you can build highly successful and profitable blog online and earn money on the internet. All you have to do is to take those tips in your action and marketing plan seriously.

My investigations show that blog is one of the most popular and effective ways to earn money on the internet. Now, most of people have their own blog online. Also, most internet entrepreneurs use blog as their internet marketing tools to advertise and sell their products or services.

Actually, blog online marketing is not all that hard if you know what you are doing. However, if this is your very first blog and you are wondering how to get readers or subscribers to it then you are in the right place. First let me just say that marketing your blog is going to require patience, and being consistent.

READ THIS: If you are looking for how to build successful and profitable blog online. I am sure that those tips in this article will help you get the ideas of how to setup your own blog in the right way.

Here are some great tips to use when trying to get your blog out there and get new readers. You’ll discover workable tips and secrets of how to build successful blog and earn money with your blog.

1) The first key for your successful in blog online marketing is to update your blog frequently. We can not put enough emphasis on this tip. If you tell your readers that you are going to update your blog daily, then do it. If you tell them that you will be writing in your blog weekly, don’t let them down. Your readers are what make your blog successful. You may not realize this in the beginning, and you will have few readers in the beginning as well, but you will eventually build a readership base and have people checking out your blog regularly. Maybe you do not plan on telling your readers how often you will update your blog. That is ok too. However, think about this, if you were reading a blog on a weekly basis, and you expected to see the blog that you like to read updated at least once a week, you would be very disappointed to find out that it was not. Sure, things happen that might prevent you from updating, and that is expected, and excused, but week after week can hurt you and cause you to lose readers.

2) You are going to want to be sure that all of your posts are formatted. Doing so will leave out any confusion for the search engines and you will have everything nice and neat and all organized. The label tags are there for a reason when you are dealing with blogs. So using them and not leaving them out is a great idea.

3) I would recommend you to ensure that your blog has the track back feature. Let me tell you why. When you have the track back feature on your blog, you are allowing other people to link back to your blog. Maybe someone has a post to post on their blog that is relevant to one of yours. They can use the talkback to your post, and send their readers to your blog so that they know what they are referring to. Another good thing to remember is that if someone gives you a track back, it is a courtesy to return that to their blog if at all possible.

4) Having a Google account and submitting a sitemap is almost a must when you are blog online marketing. Doing so will allow Google to know how often you are updating your blog and they will automatically know of any changes that you have made to it as well. This will let Google get those new pages indexed faster and get them into search results much quicker than if you did not have the sitemap. There is a certain way you have to do the sitemap for Google, and they can explain that to you. Just know this is an important step to blog online marketing.

5) Exchanging links with authority blogs and websites that are in your same market is another great way to get the word out about your blog. The authority sites are going to have a higher page rank, and will also be listed high in Google’s search results. So do some searches and check those out and see if they are up to exchanging links. If they are not, you could always just add those into your blogroll. You do not need permission to do that if they are not into linking. However, in the world of blogs, most blog owners are thankful for all links, and are willing to return the favour.

6) Tracking is another part of blog marketing that is so very important. You want to be able to track your visitors and clickers to know where they are coming from. You want to be able to tell what keywords they searched on to find your blog and where they did their searching. Doing so will help take out all of the guess work when it comes to blog marketing. You will know what keywords are working, and which are not.

7) Allowing RSS feeds from your blog is also another great blog online marketing tool. You are going to find that when you allow RSS feeds, your blog is going to end up all over the internet with a link back to it and that is a good thing. This is a wonderful way to get links to your blog with little or no effort. People that subscribe to your blog’s RSS feeds are able to then post your blog posts on their sites or blogs. This in return gives you a link on their site or page that they have you on.

While you are working on your readership base, and trying to gain readers, you are going to find that commenting on blogs that are relevant to yours will surely help. Find a blog that is on the same topic to yours, or close to it and leave comments. You can also make a track back with your blog postings to comment on your own blog. Doing so will probably more than likely give someone else the urge to track back to your blog. This will be good for it as well. Commenting on blogs that get many comments will make your blog seen by those interested in that market. You will gain traffic and readers that way, and it is easy as well as free.

9) Learn and apply SEO to your blogs. SEO is search engine optimization. You are going to find that if you want your blog to go anywhere, you need SEO, and you need to know how to use it to the advantage of your blog. Just like a website, a blog will be better off optimized.

Final thoughts, blog online marketing is only as hard as you make it. Use these powerful tips and get your blog out there and seen today!
Learn more now about blog online marketing to start & grow your highly profitable and successful home based internet marketing business with your blog today! You’ll discover great tips, workable & proven techniques, top secrets and steps-by-steps of how to get your blog been #1 ranking in major search engines, drive a ton of relevancy traffic and earn money on the internet with your blogs. Also, you will save a lot of your time & money to learn by yourself.

Read more articles, news and up-to-date information about home based internet marketing business and how to earn money on the internet at:
http://www.zMakeMoney.com/blog

*Reprint Policy: Reprint in full with writer’s name, contact information, active links and brief bio.

Technorati Tags: Advertise, Amp, Blog, Blogs, Build, Discover, Earn, Internet, Internet Entrepreneurs, Internet Marketing Tools, Internet Tools, Investigations, Marketing, Marketing Plan, Marketing Tips, Money, Money Internet, Online, Online Marketing, Online Money, Patience, Powerful, Readership Base, Services Marketing, Subscribers, Successful, Tips, Ways To Earn Money

Step 1: Choose Your Passion

What does passion have to do with it? I just want to make money!

Well making money might be a good reason for starting a blog and money CAN be made, but in the end creating and maintaining a blog that is going to last is more about your passion or your driving force. Ask yourself this question;

“What would I do everyday, for the rest of my life, without ever being paid to do it?”

Whatever answer you come up with is your passion. That is what your blog should be about; YOUR PASSION. That is what you should be blogging about. Write for yourself before you right for someone else. Money and fame are just icing on the cake.

See, when you first start writing your blog, there most likely WILL NOT be any money returned from your time investment. Making money is usually a result of long hours invested in gaining subscribers and avid readers and becoming known as an “expert”. You might decide to monetize your blog, but without people reading your blog, how are you going to make money?

Remember this:

THERE ARE NO GET-RICH-QUICK SCHEMES RELATED TO BUILDING AN A+ BLOG!!!

Sorry to dash your dreams but if you are looking for the “key” to riches beyond your wildest dreams, then please go somewhere else; you won’t find it here.

Step 2: Write Down Your Goals

Most likely if you write down your goals those goals will happen. This is because making yourself actually think about what you want to accomplish is half of the battle already won.

“Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail.” ~ English Proverb

What do you want to accomplish? How are you going to deliver your message? When you are finished, what is it going to look like?

Step 3: Visit Some Other Blogs

Do some research and check out what other people are doing with their blogs. Learn what blogging is in general. Don’t just search for blogs in your niche, but also in general. There is alot to be learned from others that have already put up there own blogs. Posts some comments so that you can start to get a feel of what the whole blogging process is. While you are researching be sure to bookmark those blogs that you have visited and write down interesting ideas that pop into your head. You might not remember where you have been only a day or two earlier.

Step 4: Choose a Blogging Software

There a bunch of options when looking for your blogging software. I would start by doing a search on Google for Blogging Software. Don’t be intimidated by the 62,000,000 + results returned back to you.

For the scope of the article, I am going to talk about WordPress (http://www.wordpress.com). I chose WordPress for my blog not only because it is the most popular, but also because it is backed by a huge community, has some really useful plugins, gives you loads of control and is easy to use. You can either signup for at www.wordpress.com or find your own hosting provider to host the blog for you. If you are new to blogging then signing-up at www.wordpress.com might be your best bet. There are many of bulit-in extras like stats that track your visitors that are beneficial. Best of all it is FREE!!

Step 5: Buy a Domain Name

Buying a domain from a domain registry such as GoDaddy will make your blog appear more professional. Choose a domain name that not only fits your blog’s purpose but also has keywords in it. For instance, if your blog is about gardening, then choose a domain such as “MyGardeningBlog.com” or “My-Gardening-Blog.com”. The .com, .net, .org, etc extension is not important although .com extensions are generally recognized as the default.

Step 6: Customize Your Blog

Customizing your blog is very easy with WordPress. If you choose to host your blog with www.wordpress.com then you can choose from dozens of pre-installed templates. You can also Search Google for additional templates that are either FREE or low cost for around $45 a template. If you find a template that is not provided by the hosted service then you can simply upload the new template to your account. The control panel that comes with the hosted service is very easy to use.

If you are daring enough to modify the template by hand you can do so. WordPress is built in a web site scripting language called PHP. If you are not familiar with PHP then this route is not for you. You can, however, find additional resources online either at the WordPress website or by doing a Google search.

Step 7: Install Helpful Plugins

WordPress is easily expandable by the use of “Plugins”. Plugins are little pieces of software that are created by a 3rd-Party developer that accomplish simple tasks such as helping you manage your Google Adsense(http://www.google.com/adsense) ads or backing up your WordPress installation. There are many plugins to choose from and you can search for them at www.wordpress.org.

Step 8: Write Your “About” Page

When you are ready, you can describe the blog and its purpose in an “About” page. Be as descriptive as you can about the target audience and what you will be providing in the blog.

Step 9: Start Posting to Your Blog

This is actually the hardest part. If you have done your homework on what your passion was and you did some research, then you most likely did some blog posts in your head. Don’t sweat coming up with great and astounding ideas or intricate essays. Remember the KISS method and Keep It Simple Stupid! (OK I had to break this rule for this article but you know what I mean…)

You have to remember who your audience is in general. Most people read blogs rather than other forms of information because they are short and to-the-point snippets of information that can be easily digested. I think this is just normal human behavior in a conventional society. There is far too much information on the internet and too little time to try to consume it all. Blogs satisfy our normal curiosity like small little squares of chocolate would satisfy our sweet-tooth.

Step 10: Marketing (and maybe Monetizing) Your Blog

Since you have been blogging your little heart away, wouldn’t it be nice if people actually read it? Here are a few ways, among many, to go about marketing your blog.

Google Website Submittal(http://www.google.com/addurl/) - This allows you to easily add your new blog (or website) to Google. I also suggest you submit to Yahoo and AltaVista and any other search engine or directory you can find.

Google Adsense and Adwords – Adwords allows you to advertise on Google and Adsense allows you display ads on your blog that match your content. If any visitors to your blog click on the advertisements you get paid for it. What a concept!! Be sure to check the other suggested affiliates and ad networks under the “Money Makers” section of this blog.

Google Sitemap – This is a FREE plugin for WordPress that you can install that will create a Google Sitemap of your blog that can be used to allow your blog to be better indexed by Google.

FeedBurner – Another plugin and service that is FREE that allows you to do some really neat things with your blog’s feed. The feed of your blog is what allows someone to subscribe to your blog. It is a file that contains all of your posts in a specific file format called RSS that an “aggregator” (or “feed reader”) such as Google Reader can read and keep track of. You would want to use an aggregator because it keeps track of the different blog feeds that you have subscribed to and allows you to read those blog feeds all in one place. Although you do not need FeedBurner to allow your blog to be subscribed to, it has some really great features that you need to check out.

Comments – Visit alot of blogs and subscribe to them. Try to be the first to leave a comment with a link back to your blog.

Forums - Forums are the same way. Just be careful that you are truly leaving a comment about the thread and not just trying to advertise your blog.

Signatures – When you leave a comment or send an email make sure you use a signature that has your blog address.

Write Articles – Turn you blog posts into an expanded article that you can put on a tutorial or eZine (Electronic or Online Magazine) website such as ArticlesBase.com(http://www.articlesbase.com). Make sure to add a link back to your blog.

Word of Mouth – Don’t forget to tell the people you know about your new blog and keep them updated on what is going on. Ask them to become subscribers to your blog.

I hope you have enjoyed this introduction into the world of blogging and I hope that you find your passion. Please be sure to comment on this blog post and leave me some feedback. Also be sure to ask me any questions that you might have. I will be glad to help you in any way that I can.

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