Posts Tagged blog
5 Quick & Dirty Steps to Eliminate Blogger’s Block
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on April 12, 2010
“What Should I write about? Who would be interested in what I know?” I hear this a lot when entrepreneurs start being active on their blogs. They are all experts in their field of interest but somehow they assume everyone else is too.
I used to think that but soon I found out that many people, for instance, failed to understand the importance of SEO for their websites. For those who still don’t know – SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.
So bloggers, here’s my technique – feel free to share it and apply it in your work:
1. Pick a subject, any subject you feel you know best or can easily research it; preferably some kind of problem lots of people are confronted with. Describe in 2-4 sentences what the problem is.
2. Identify your audience. In other words – who are writing this for? Who are the people affected by this problem?
3. How can the problem be fixed? List all tools, techniques, methods, links, people, resources, etc. that can help solve the problem. Be succinct with your list but give enough information that everyone can understand.
4. Create the list in a bullet form (people love lists) with links to the each resource.
5. Write a brief conclusion with the benefits of solving the problem “your way” and leave it open for comments and/or questions.
What do you think? Try it out and let me know if this method works for you.
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Top 10 Awesome Tips for Improving Your Online Presence
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Top 10 List on April 8, 2010
Here are 10 awesome tips on how you can improve the online presence for your business:
- Submit Your Business to Local Listings
Do a local search for your business make sure your listing is up to date and accurate so customers get the right information about your business. - List Your Business in the Correct Category
Very often the owner (or the webmaster creating the website) categorizes the business listing in the wrong category. Include as many relevant categories as possible to your business to attract customers. - Add or verify your business listing with data providers for search engines
Search engines and local search sites use data providers (e.g. InfoUSA, Localeze, InsiderPages, MerchantCircle, etc.) and it’s very important that you update their listing of your business. - When Possible Include product / service keywords in your local business listing title
This tactic will help customers find your business more easily on search engines and you will be ranked higher in the process. - Check the Accuracy of Your Full Name and address on all search sites and especially your website
A full and accurate address generates a sense of trust for both customers and for search engines so make sure that wherever you appear on the web, your information is up to date, accurate and consistent throughout. - Hire a Professional and Build a Great Website with an Optimized Number of Keywords and Good Content
Your company website is the image project on the web to the rest of the world. Show the world you care about your image, your business and your customers with a unique, easy to navigate website. Stay away from cheap imitations, standard templates and cookie cutters (one size fits all) websites. If you want to stand out from the crows so should your website/blog. - Get your customers to write online reviews and testimonials about your business
Many customers look for objective reviews before they decide where to spend their money. Online reviews of your business can also contribute to your ranking on search engines as they give credibility to your business and puts your potential customers at ease. - Encourage your customers to talk well on and offline about you
Create more “buzz” around your business. Customer feedback is always good and you an use that to your advantage to improve your business. - Understand and use social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Flickr, etc. to stay in touch with customers and attract new ones
Use these sites to form a community for your business – this is a good way to communicate with existing customers, advertise sales or specials, and a good way to be visible to potential customers. - Create a Blog and be active on others as well
This is the cheapest way to sort of “toot your own horn” on line. It only takes time to research and write on your blog but very soon you might be able to attract more and more people who enjoy your products and/or services. In addition – your website and thus the company’s brand will rank higher in the search engines. This might not be sufficient unless you also find other blogs within your niche and become an active contributor.
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How Bloggers Make Money Online
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Make Money Online on January 30, 2010
There are 5 ways to make money with your blog (or website). Might be others – I’m open for suggestions:
- Sell ad space on your blog
- Write articles for other companies/blogs/individuals
- Syndicate your blog posts to other blogs/Sell Blog Subscriptions
- Sell your own things on your blog
- Sell third party goods online
1. Sell ad space on your blog
One of the most popular ads is GoogleAds: https://www.google.com/adsense (although they pay you only when someone actually clicks on the ad) and the Yahoo Publisher Network https://publisher.yahoo.com/portal/login.php
Selling ad space is fairly easy to do; just create a section on your blog that describes the benefit for companies/individuals to place an ad on your blog.
One word of advice though: When you start this adventure, do not fill your blog to the gills with ads – it will not look very professional. Your readers need to see what you can offer first before they will buy anything from you or off your blog.
You can spot a newbie, right-away by the imense number of ads running on his/her site, trying desperately to make some dough. People do not respond well and they will leave your site fairly quick before you can even write about your expertise.
Blogger – Make it Easy on Your Readers
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on January 25, 2010
Commenting on blogs similar to yours is one quick way to promote your own blog/website. I discovered this a while back but wanted to beef up a bit my own blog before jumping on the “comment on other blogs” wagon.
Although a lot of them are very well designed I found it hard to write about some mistakes I kept on seeing on other blogs. In fact I have learned a lot.
The most important thing to remember is this:
Scan not read
People do not have the time to read a whole lot now-a-days (unless they are really interested in a particular subject) so “Good bye Reading” and “Hello Scanning”. In order to capture attention you have to create breaks in your text such that the human eye can easily scan, stop and read small bits.
100 Articles Written on DeFactoMind Blog
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Marketer's Schedule on December 31, 2009
This marks my 100th article in this Defacto Mind blog and fulfills my pledge to post exactly 100 by the end of the year 2009. It all started on September 16th, 2009 and in 3 months period I was able to publish this hundred articles.
Defacto Mind Celebrates 100 Articles and a New Year
Next year I will start slowly because I am working on a monster project that will probable take at least 6 months to finish. I will share with you all once it is finished and marketing commences.
I already have some New Year resolutions; among other things I want to start a new trend (or so I think although it seems PSDtuts.com is already working on it) and publish a new design every day. Instead of surfing the web, I will try to dedicate 10-20 minutes each day and publish a design (either, Photoshop, Illustrator or CorelDraw) and maybe some other designer(s) out there would want to join me. The stage is set and I welcome everyone.
That will not onlt enhance my design skills but will increase the number of works for my Design by Satori portfolio.
In the meantime, I wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope that 2010 will be better and more successful for all of you.
New Year Resolutions for Bloggers
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on December 30, 2009
2010 is just around the corner, and we’re working on our new years resolutions! Here are some ideas for bloggers out there that want to start the new year with a bang!
Article published on UX Booth by David Leggett on Decmber 29th, 2009.
End of the Year Blog Resolution
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Marketer's Schedule on December 14, 2009
Another blog project on Defacto Mind; there are only 18 days left until New Year and I decided to schedule 2 more activities and write about in the Defacto Mind blog.
For the next 3 weeks I will write a book review every Tuesday and I’ll call it “Cool Blue Tuesday Book Review”. There is really no reason why Tuesdays would be blue or cool for that matter but I just thought it sounds catchy. So, every Tuesday, after reading a book about SEO, marketing, design or social media, I’ll share with you my impressions about a particular book and recommend it (or not) to you – the reader.
Read the rest of this entry »
From Zero to Power Blogging in 3 Days
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on November 27, 2009
After lots of online and offline research I came up with a schedule for those who want to blog successfully and even make a living out of it.
Day 1 – The Groundwork
1. Install a custom WordPress theme for your blog
Although the web is full of blogging platforms, I believe WordPress is still the most powerful blogging platform with awesome versatility.
Resources:
18 Alternative Ways to Use WordPress
Free WordPress Themes from Smashing Magazine
Free WordPress Themese provided by Free WP Themes
Top WP Themes
The 5 Golden Rules of Awesome Blogging
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on November 19, 2009
Whenever you sit down and decide to write for your bog always communicate in plain language. Anyone who traveled to a foreign country knows that speaking the native tongue is much better that using a translator or a dictionary.
In the land of the web, things are no different. Learn the “native language of the web” and all the web surfers will read and understand you better.
5 Rules of Blogging
Here are the 5 Golden rules to harness the power of a good blog post:
Top 15 Ways to Build Your Subscriber List
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Email Marketing on October 10, 2009
Email marketing can be profitable for any business, no matter what kind of product or service you are selling. It is significantly cheaper than other advertising methods and it helps build credibility with your subscribers. As a result, you can generate more sales and profits.
The foundation for successful email marketing is a targeted, responsive and permission-based email list. If you have a list of subscribers that trust you and consider you an expert, you’ve completed the first step and are on your way!
Make the most of your email marketing efforts with the below list:
