How to Write Top Blog Posts

Want to write engaging posts that not only keep your current readers coming back for more but also attract new readers to your blog?

Most bloggers start off wanting to fast track their blogging success and be a sensation overnight. Many don’t realize that blogging takes a heap of energy, time and effort not to mention research, writing, networking, marketing, design and photography (in some instances).

One good way to write a top blog post (one that draws in plenty of traffic) is to constantly research your audience to determine what they want.  You can do this by using keyword searches, by asking your readers for feedback via comments or a questionnaire and by checking your blog stats to see which posts get the most interest.

Here are some things I have found to help me write posts that garner heaps of interest in my blog.

1. Get personal

I have found that the posts I write that are more personal tend to get a lot of interest and more comments. I love to read about other people’s lives and adventures so opening up to your readers about your life can be a great way to engage with them. There is of course a fine line between personal and too personal so make sure you know where that line is!

2. Research

As I write a fashion blog, being up to date with the latest trends and anything fashion is imperative to me. A lot of my readers also enjoy craft, sewing and vintage so I always make sure I include a few of these sorts of posts per week. Remember that readers will not connect with every post you write so give them something at least once a week they will enjoy.  Using Google’s Keyword Tool or Google Analytics should give you a better idea of what your readers want.

3. Use your keywords 

Keywords are important for directing traffic to your blog. Make sure you are including them seamlessly in your post titles and throughout your post. Linking to other relevant posts within your blog using anchor text is also necessary to increase page views and time spent on your blog.

4.  Create a weekly regular post or segment

Creating a weekly regular post is great for regular readers especially if you give it a catchy name and commit to posting it each week. It could be a segment of posts that last a few weeks or something you do every week. Get creative and use alliteration for more fun. As an example I run Make it Mondays at my blog which is targeted at my crafty readers. Whatever you do have some fun!

How to Use Blog Traffic?

So you have a good blog, responsive design and getting steady traffic, the question is –

“What are you going to do with all that traffic?”

Sounds stupid? Not at all.

Much of the information found on the blogosphere is centered around how to get traffic and not its other facet, how to use blog traffic.

5 Ways to Use Blog Traffic

Here are my recommendations on using blog traffic.

• Build an Email List

If you are into long term blogging strategy, building an email list will be high on your agenda because you would want to use the email list for blog monetization. Personally, I recommend using a subscription form below the post or the sidebar but never as pop-ups.

• Sell Product

You can direct the incoming traffic towards a landing page or change your homepage to a landing page. Either way, if you have heavy traffic knowing what the readers expect from your blog and can weave a product around the same, you will see a lot of conversions, engagement and $$$.

• Collect Leads

You can also use blog traffic to collect leads for product pre-launch. For instance, if you are planning to sell a product for $3.99, you can create a special page where those who will sign up will get the same product at a reduced price of $2.99. If you want to use this list of collected leads for future product launches, make sure it’s mentioned in your blog’s privacy policy and disclaimer.

• Offer Coupons

If you are into affiliate marketing and have some awesome coupons to share with blog readers, it will give positive results. Create separate page to redeem coupons or disclose the coupon on the sidebar linked with your affiliate link. Those who will click on that sidebar and purchase will make you money. Of course, ensure that the product is relevant.

• Get Advertisers

If nothing else, you would definitely want advertisers to use your blog for sponsored posts, banner advertisement, paid reviews and others. You can use blog traffic data to convince advertisers for placing ads on your blog. Advertisers always look into blogs stats like traffic, geo-stats, Alexa rank, Page Rank, outbound links and blog quality before advertising.

• Use AdSense

Lastly, you can insert AdSense ads and when any visitor click on it, you earn money. Its one of the oldest ways to use blog traffic and make money online.

How do you use your blog traffic? Do share.

I’m Afraid To Quit My Day Job For Blogging (Here’s why You Need to Quit)

Do you want to become an internet entrepreneur?

Are you tired of your boss at work?

Do you desire to quit your 9-5 day job and start a blogging business? If you answered ‘‘NO’‘ to the above questions, then I’ll give you 8 vital reasons why you need to quit your job and start blogging.

1. You can work while on bed or in your Pajamas

Think about this: Won’t you love to work while on bed rather than wake up by 5am rushing to the office?

I’m not saying this to convince you into quitting your job but because, I want you to live a stress-free life and at the same time, earn more money.

Pro tip: You could use your bedroom as your office so you’d be able to work more productively.

2. You can choose your own working hours

In your company or place of work, your boss determines your working hours and you dare not go home without the authorization of your boss. But in a blogging business, no one has control over your time and you’re at your own free will to work anytime or anywhere you want!

3. You could triple your paycheck and promote yourself three times in a month!

The highest amount you’ll ever get if you’re promoted in your place of work is a 10% increase in salary. And even if you were promoted, you have to wait for another 1 to 2 years to get another promotion but as a blogger, you can triple your paycheck four times a month! You determine your pay!

Pro tip: You can’t control or determine your pay as an employee– but you can control the amount you make with a blog. Though blogging is profitable but it really takes a lot of hard work to make BIG FIGURES…

It’s advisable to quit your job when your blog is earning two times of what your job pays you.

4. No experience or qualification required

You don’t need a Masters or PHD to start a blogging business. In fact, you don’t even need an high school certificate. All you need is hardwork, the willingness to learn, and the determination to succeed.

That’s what will single you out from the crowd!

5. You’re not on any work pressure

If you work a 9 to 5 day job, you have to follow the instructions of your boss, accomplish the task you’re assigned to do and also meet deadlines but with blogging, you’re not under pressure. You can work anytime you want to and you can even decide to go two days off work.  That’s the beauty of being a blogger!

6. You Determine Your Pay

In a 9 to 5 day job, your firm determines your salary but your blogging salary depends on how much effort you put in. There’s no limit to what you can earn with blogging. You can earn $3,000 today and $30,000 dollars tomorrow.

7. Go For Vacations Anyday, Anywhere, Anytime…

If you work 9 to 5, you can’t plan your vacation anytime. You have to get approval from your boss but with blogging, you can decide to go on vacation anytime. In fact, you can even go on a 6 months vacation!

8. A secured Financial Future

If you’re planning to secure your future financial with your 9 to 5 day job then you’re joking with your life. A 9 to 5 day job can never give you financial freedom even if you work for decades…

Whereas, on the other hand, you can make more money for the rest of your life by blogging.

All you need is hardwork and persistence.

Are you ready to quit your job and start a blogging business?

The above question is meant for you to answer.

Save your future by starting an online business.

P.S.  kindly share this post with your friends and let me know what you think in the comments section.

Top Tips for Business Blogging

Blogging seems to be something that a lot of people have had a go at. Of all my friends, the numbers who at some point or other have set up a blog is high, and yet I do not even need the fingers on one hand to count the number of friends who still blog regularly. At some point or other, everyone seems to get the blogging bug and then has, to paraphrase Andy Warhol, their three posts of blogging-fame.

Corporate business blogs typically last a little longer. Yet, as with other forms of social media, so many seen to have been set up because someone in a company somewhere thinks they should.

Why should you have a business blog?

There are many reasons why you should set up a blog for your business, but remember that it is not a necessity, and if you don’t do it well, it might be worse than not having one at all.

That said the positives far outweigh the negatives. With a blog, you have a place where you can control how you come across to the public. Want to show off your love for sports or your company’s family heritage? You can craft that message with a blog in a way you might struggle to elsewhere. Want to offer your side of a recent controversy in an honest and open manner? Then a blog is a great way to accomplish that.

From a digital marketing perspective, having a blog keeps fresh content on your site, which is great for SEO, and will help drive traffic, which can potentially produce new leads.

Tips: set objectives & measure

Blogging should be considered like many other business entities: plan what you want to achieve, set goals, and then execute a plan that helps you achieve those goals.

The goals could be to increase sales, show character and personality, rescue yourself from a crisis communications disaster or to act as a thought leadership portal that you control.

Once you’ve set the objective, measure it. Free tools such as Google Analytics let you track where your traffic comes from, what content is working, what content is being shared, and perhaps importantly, what content leads to the highest conversions. React to this data if you notice that a blog completely unrelated to your industry is doing particularly well, then write mote content like that.

Tips: don’t be salesy or overly-promotional

The public are pretty smart and they know when they’re being sold to. It is important that, whilst you show off expertise, opinion or insight, it doesn’t read as if the sole purpose of the blog is to make a sale even if that’s one of your objectives. Write content that your target audience will find interesting, will want to share and importantly write something that you will want to read yourself.

This isn’t to say that you can’t pat yourselves on the back every now and again when you’ve had a good day, but keep it to a minimum. Self-promotion and sales pitches don’t drive readership.

Tips: the top voice may not be the best voice

As with choosing a spokesperson in any form of communications, the top voice may not be the best voice. If you have a series of junior or mid-level staff who can promote the company well, increase readership and maintain that readership, consider a strategy that puts those voices at the forefront of your campaign. The most successful bloggers or social media users may be unexpected and working out a way to make the best use of those people as part of your strategy will be best for your company in the long run.

Following through

The blogs that will fail, will fail because objectives haven’t been set and the work hasn’t gone in to properly execute the plan throughout. Don’t set up a blog because you think you should, work out exactly what you want from it and find a way of getting it. Just because it’s part of a digital communications strategy, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat it like you would any other part of the business model.

This guest post was written by Joshua Lachkovic, who is the digital marketing executive at Hotwire, a global PR agency with a heritage in tech PR.

How to find the Best audience to TARGET? Make an eBook that Sells – Part 2

Now, after we have shown the basics of making an eBook, go and make one now.

But wait: there is one more step that you should do before you start making an eBook. This step is researching your audience market.

Why do so?

The only reason to do so is that your work doesn’t go in vain.

Let’s say you made an eBook, and in it you show the solution of a problem. What will you gain if not many people face this problem you are addressing, or the people who face it can find the solution easily?

Then, no one will download your eBook, and you will have done all that work for nothing. You have to research your market to know who they are and what they want.

Here is a simple step-by-step guide to have the right information to write on.

1. Define your audience:

You should define your audience and this can happen by asking the following question:

• Who is my target audience? (Their gender, their age, their location, etc.) Be as specific as you can.
• What do they like?
• What will they learn?
• What am I offering them for their time?
• How can I make this eBook build a relationship with my readers? Can they fall in love with it? Does it have a good story? Am I motivating or inspiring them with ideas and examples? What is the main purpose?

And the best tool that will help you know your audience is Google Analytics. Use it to know available demographic details, such as gender and location. This will help you a lot.

2. Be a part of your community:

If you already have readers on your blog, you can gather a lot of information from them.

If you don’t have readers yet, go to the blogs that have that same audience that you want to connect with. Join the community and take part in their discussions. Try to be helpful.

3. Discover their problems:

After you become a part of your community, try to find the problem they have most. After you find that problem, go and write about it.

Find the problems they have and try to give them the best solution ever for that problem. Or, you can write about a desire that they want.

Now after you have learned about your audience (who they are, their age, and other things mentioned above), start to write your eBook. Keep in mind the information that you have gathered before.

Like I said before, this step will really help you a lot to provide a great eBook that everyone wants to read.

You can also use these tips to create a new blog. Zac had also done this with his new blog.

Last words:

With this research, you are on track to create the best ebook out there. It may take you some time to do this research and spend some time with your audience. Spend that time.

Wait for our next posts to learn how to write an eBook the correct way, how to develop it, and how to publish it for your audience. Tell me now what do you think about this series? Is it going to help you?

Hide the Tweets You Don’t Want to Read with Larry Filter

Are you looking for an easy way tofilter out the tweets and junk that you’re not interested in on Twitter.com? Are you tired of junk tweets or those irrelevant to you clogging up your timeline? The majority of Twitter users are. One of the worst things about Twitter is the simple fact that you can’t control the types of tweets that you see.

Sure you’ll find some users tweeting about one specific topic and you can easily unfollow them, but what about those that tweet about a variety of topics? You may be interested in some of the topics they’re tweeting about, but the other topics just don’t interest you.

Luckily, there’s a very simple solution to this and it’s called tweet filtering. Many third-party Twitter apps and tools have a native feature for filtering tweets, but what if you’re using Twitter.com? Well there’s a few options for this. In 2011, I wrote about Slipstream, as service that lets you hide the tweets that you don’t want to see on Twitter.com.

While Slipstream is still going strong, I want to introduce another tool that’s very similar; it’s called Larry Filter. Larry Filter is a browser extension that is available for both Firefox and Chrome that can filter out words any hashtags from any page on Twitter.com. For this review, I’m using the Chrome version.

Getting Started

Once the extension is installed, you’ll see a new button on your browser toolbar – with the Twitter logo.

Clicking on this button will bring up the Larry Filter window, which is nice because this means you don’t have to be on Twitter.com to use it; you can filter words and hashtags on Twitter while browsing any Web page, since it’s all done from the browser icon.

Hiding Twitters

The Larry Filter window is pretty self-explanatory. When you want to hide tweets containing a specific word, phrase, or hashtag, just enter it and add it to your filter list. Since Larry Filter works anywhere on Twitter, you can quickly perform a Twitter search using your keyword or hashtag to make sure it works.

As you can see in the screenshot above, opacity has been added to the tweets containing the word “Obama.” If you change your mind about a word or hashtag and want those tweets to reappear on Twitter, you can easily remove it from the list as well.

There are two options for tweets containing words on your filter list: their opacity can be reduced to 75% or the tweets can be totally hidden. You can choose the option that you’d like to use from the Larry Filter window – below the filter list.

If you choose to add opacity you will still see the tweets (slightly), and you can mouse over a tweet to view it without opacity. However, if you choose to complete hide the tweets, there’s no way to make them reappear; you won’t see them at all.

Final Thoughts

In a nutshell, filtering tweets with Larry Filter is as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Install the Chrome extensions or Firefox Add-on.
2. Enter the words or hashtags that you want to hide on Twitter.com.
3. Choose the method that you want to use for filtering tweets: adding opacity or removing/hiding them.

In comparison to Slipstream, Larry Filter is definitely easier to use and quicker to set up. However, Larry Filter doesn’t offer nearly as much flexibility as Slipstream. For instance, with Slipstream you can hide tweets from a specific user, or choose to hide words or hashtags from just the home timeline.

Choosing between Larry Filter, Slipstream, or evenanother tool really depends on the features that you’re looking for. If it’s easy-of-use and simplicity that you want, I say Larry Filter all the way!

Do you use a special tool to filter out words and/or hashtags on Twitter? If so, what are you using?

Top 5 Pinboard Free WordPress Themes for 2013

If you consider about the WordPress themes this year there are plenty of beautifully designed option which can make you excited. Some of the themes which you can select this year are just wonderful to watch. Therefore, if you are in a search for some beautiful new WordPress Themes, you can choose some of the options which are stated below.

To download and install any of the themes below, simply search for them within wordpress in the themes area.

Elegant White:

This theme really suits its name to a great extent. If you talk about the look of this theme it is extremely elegant and the colors used in this theme are predominately white. The design is simple and there is a lot of white space in the theme. This is one of those themes in which it is extremely easy to just plug and play. Formatting has been given very much importance. You cannot find any unnecessary margins on the images. There is no text which is poorly spaced. This theme is extremely responsive.

Designfolio:

If you want to have a theme which is will be very much responsive and at the same time it will be little busier than Elegant White, then your perfect option will be Designfolio. This design which has full width can be chosen for plenty numbers of websites. There is a big size slider which dominates the space available in the theme above the fold. Pages as well as posts look just wonderful in this theme. It is quite clear about this theme that it has been developed with extreme attention.

Clean Retina:

Clean Retina can be another very good option if you aresearching for a responsive theme. Well, this theme does not have a big slider like Designfolio. However, it can provide you a wonderful experience for sure. You can have nine homepage designs in it. If you are fond of a collected and calm design for your website, this theme will be one of the most appropriate options for you. The design is extremely soothing for the eyes. The attractive design of this theme can surely clean your retina.

Spun:

Spun is undoubtedly one of the best themes which have been developed in this New Year. Well, you may not be sure how you can manage practical applications with it, but this is one of the most effective themes because of the content which is given very much importance. The theme is developed by Caroline Moore. In this theme every image will represent a post. When they are clicked, those will be revealed quite beautifully in front of your eyes. There is no doubt about the fact that this theme will be appreciated by you.

Deux Milles Douze:

If you are searching for a good looking theme, Deux Milles Douze can be one of the best options for you. This is undoubtedly one of the best examples of what you can do with a child theme development. The combination of red and white color looks just brilliant. Color packed theme does not create so much effect as this theme can create.

You can download all these WordPress themes of absolutely free of cost. Therefore, if you are thinking of changing your WordPress theme this year, just go for these options.

This guest post was written by Diana. She loves writing, traveling and playing games. She uses some wordpress CMS plugins like Content cloud.

Creative Ways to Attract New Site Visitors and Customers to Your Site

When it comes to bringing traffic to your web site or blog you have a lot of options.

You can focus your efforts on paid advertising, ranking in the search engines, creating viral videos or even guest blogging.

However some companies tend to come up with some even crazier and more effective ideas when it comes to getting their name out there and reaching a whole new audience of potential customers.

One site that does this extremely well isPawnUp.com, which is on an online pawn shop.

The concept of their site is simple… send your unwanted items to their company and they will pay you cash for it!

We all have some cool and outdated electronics, games and mobile devices laying around the house, so a site like PawnUp is great for turning these unwanted items into fast cash.

In addition to their internet marketing and advertising in the search engines, PawnUp has been featured in the news for many of their crazy sponsorships and new stories.

Let’s take a look at a few of them.

How would you like to get some extreme coverage on a major television show like 20/20? Well that is exactly what they did when they sponsored to the shirt of the guy being interviewed in this crazy story on people selling space on their bodies to get branded advertising tattoos!

The deal might not have worked out too well for the people with the tattoos, but PawnUp.com sure got some nice ad placement in this one!

The funny thing is PawnUp is getting really good at getting in the news for stunts and crazy things they purchase, and since the “get paid cash for items you own” concept can relate to anyone, they can see a return on investment with virtually any type of person that visits their site.

Just take a look at their media and press release pageto see the many different times they have been featured in the news.

While you may not have the same type of budget PawnUp.com has to spend on tattoo branding, high end royalty wedding cakes or even bidding thousands of dollars to change someone’s last name to your site URL, you can get the same attention by being creative and reporting on how other people are getting in the news.

Whether you are looking to see what PawnUp is doing next to get in the news, or you want to make an extra few dollars by turning in your unwanted electronics and jewelry, be sure to keep an eye on PawnUp.comas they are sure to be making headlines in the news again soon!

How to Write Top Blog Posts

Want to write engaging posts that not only keep your current readers coming back for more but also attract new readers to your blog?

Most bloggers start off wanting to fast track their blogging success and be a sensation overnight. Many don’t realize that blogging takes a heap of energy, time and effort not to mention research, writing, networking, marketing, design and photography (in some instances).

One good way to write a top blog post (one that draws in plenty of traffic) is to constantly research your audience to determine what they want.  You can do this by using keyword searches, by asking your readers for feedback via comments or a questionnaire and by checking your blog stats to see which posts get the most interest.

Here are some things I have found to help me write posts that garner heaps of interest in my blog.

1. Get personal

I have found that the posts I write that are more personal tend to get a lot of interest and more comments. I love to read about other people’s lives and adventures so opening up to your readers about your life can be a great way to engage with them. There is of course a fine line between personal and too personal so make sure you know where that line is!

2. Research

As I write a fashion blog, being up to date with the latest trends and anything fashion is imperative to me. A lot of my readers also enjoy craft, sewing and vintage so I always make sure I include a few of these sorts of posts per week. Remember that readers will not connect with every post you write so give them something at least once a week they will enjoy.  Using Google’s Keyword Tool or Google Analytics should give you a better idea of what your readers want.

3. Use your keywords 

Keywords are important for directing traffic to your blog. Make sure you are including them seamlessly in your post titles and throughout your post. Linking to other relevant posts within your blog using anchor text is also necessary to increase page views and time spent on your blog.

4.  Create a weekly regular post or segment

Creating a weekly regular post is great for regular readers especially if you give it a catchy name and commit to posting it each week. It could be a segment of posts that last a few weeks or something you do every week. Get creative and use alliteration for more fun. As an example I run Make it Mondays at my blog which is targeted at my crafty readers. Whatever you do have some fun!

How to Use Blog Traffic?

So you have a good blog, responsive design and getting steady traffic, the question is –

“What are you going to do with all that traffic?”

Sounds stupid? Not at all.

Much of the information found on the blogosphere is centered around how to get traffic and not its other facet, how to use blog traffic.

5 Ways to Use Blog Traffic

Here are my recommendations on using blog traffic.

• Build an Email List

If you are into long term blogging strategy, building an email list will be high on your agenda because you would want to use the email list for blog monetization. Personally, I recommend using a subscription form below the post or the sidebar but never as pop-ups.

• Sell Product

You can direct the incoming traffic towards a landing page or change your homepage to a landing page. Either way, if you have heavy traffic knowing what the readers expect from your blog and can weave a product around the same, you will see a lot of conversions, engagement and $$$.

• Collect Leads

You can also use blog traffic to collect leads for product pre-launch. For instance, if you are planning to sell a product for $3.99, you can create a special page where those who will sign up will get the same product at a reduced price of $2.99. If you want to use this list of collected leads for future product launches, make sure it’s mentioned in your blog’s privacy policy and disclaimer.

• Offer Coupons

If you are into affiliate marketing and have some awesome coupons to share with blog readers, it will give positive results. Create separate page to redeem coupons or disclose the coupon on the sidebar linked with your affiliate link. Those who will click on that sidebar and purchase will make you money. Of course, ensure that the product is relevant.

• Get Advertisers

If nothing else, you would definitely want advertisers to use your blog for sponsored posts, banner advertisement, paid reviews and others. You can use blog traffic data to convince advertisers for placing ads on your blog. Advertisers always look into blogs stats like traffic, geo-stats, Alexa rank, Page Rank, outbound links and blog quality before advertising.

• Use AdSense

Lastly, you can insert AdSense ads and when any visitor click on it, you earn money. Its one of the oldest ways to use blog traffic and make money online.

3 Simple and Easy Ways to Use Social Media to Promote Your Blog

Social media has opened a lot of possibilities for bloggers to reach out to readers and forge relationships that are going to result to a loyal following and even lead to more profits.

Today, it’s important to know how to use social media to promote your blog. With the amount of competition out there, you’re not going to matter if you’re not active in social media. Without an online presence, which social media can do really well, no one’s going to know about your blog.

The interesting thing is although all of us have used at least one social network, not everyone knows how to use social media the right way.

And that’s what can make your blog fail.

You may feel you have the best posts but it’s not enough to make it viral. There may be a few people who’ll stumble upon your blog and like what they read, but that’s not going to drive tons of traffic.

You need something that will allow you to connect to millions of readers quickly and effortlessly. That’s social media.

Here are 3 simple and easy ways on how to use social media to promote your blog:

Make sure that your blog displays social media icons prominently

Make it easier for readers to like, share, and tweet your posts. Put the social media icons in a place where people are going to see them quickly. You can put them at the top of the page, right below the post, and on the side bar.

Why do you need to do this? Social media is the second biggest source of traffic. It’s also going to help you grow a loyal fan base.

Here are some great plugins that you can use:

• Sociable
• Sharebar
• Shareaholic
• Social Toolbar
• Slick Social Share Buttons
• Getsocial
• Insitebar
• Social Pop

Create a Facebook fan page

Generating exposure is one of the best benefits of having a Facebook presence. Today, companies invest resources to ensure they’re visible in Facebook so they can reach out to their target audience.

Blogs can tap into Facebook’s immense power by creating a fan page. A fan page will establish a stronger brand, increase traffic, and provide an effective avenue for communication with readers.

Facebook fan pages can improve your blog’s performance simply because there are millions of users who log in each day. Plus, the fact that there are already more than a million fan pages just shows how effective this can be.

However, simply creating a fan page is not enough. Make sure that you optimize it well. Here are some tips on how you can do that:

• Create relevant and engaging content
• Make sure to post regularly
• Engage your audience by posting questions, responding to comments promptly, running contests or polls, and giving away free stuff

Interlink your most active social media profiles

This is a smart way to promote your blog because every time you post something new, it automatically gets published in your Facebook page, Twitter, and even LinkedIn accounts.

You can easily interlink your accounts in these websites.

But you have to be cautious because not everything you post, like in Twitter, would be something your LinkedIn contacts would find relevant. And you surely don’t want to turn off some potential clients or employers because they saw something that they didn’t like in your profile.

What you can do is use the hashtag #in for tweets that you’d like to get published on your LinkedIn account.

These simple and easy ways should better help you use social media to promote your blog.