Blogs And Blogging

Blogging and Blogs seem to be the in-thing nowadays…

In the past, just about anyone who was somebody had a
blog. Now, it's the other way around.. If you want to be somebody, you must have a blog.

While this has caused a dearth of creativity in the blog sector (as the pundits say, although I doubt it myself), there is such an amount of free good, bad and original info out there.

Teenagers have blogs, celebrities have blogs, corporations have blogs, news agencies have blogs, and CEO's have blogs. In short, just about anybody who has something and wants to voice his or her opinion, has a blog.

Now they are having blog conventions. Who did ever think that voicing your opinion did have so much intensity? Well, the show must go on…

Although, the wonderful thing about blogs is, that there are virtually no restraints on what it could be used for, although, one has to be a bit reticent as to what they write in it, as it is fast being accepted as public opinion.

Another reason why blogging has become increasingly popular is because of its flexibility and easy content management. If you are familiar with running a traditional website, you would be aware of why fresh content is a necessity for your site's success. Blogging solves this issue, because it can be updated on a regular basis.

In short, Blogs are the simplest form of creating an online presence.

You can create a blog for free. You do not need any experience in website design as most blog hosts will provide you with pre-made templates. They also provide easy to understand instructions for creating your posts along with options such as allowing comments from readers etc. There are many free blog-hosting sites you can locate by searching for 'blog' in the search engine. Blogger.com is a popular one.

WordPress is also popular with many bloggers because it's - free, has solid support, can be customized and has many plugin facilities. Oh I almost forgot, it is also free. And, although, Blogger comes free, for those who are a bit technologically oriented and for geeks, Wordpress provides that edge of flexibility.

Now, let's cut the crap and finish a few basics first…

What is blogging ?

Blogging is a method of sharing information over the Internet for work, pleasure or both. Although the pleasure aspect does play an important part (sic !) In other words, 'blogging' is the action of posting a message on a blog. A 'blogger' is the person posting the message.

What are blogs?

'Blogs' or 'Web logs' are generally described as an online diary, with dated posts displayed chronologically.

Blogs are usually based on a particular topic or an individual's personal thoughts and opinions. They often contain links to other related sites and are commonly free to operate. They require little knowledge to set up and are simple to update.

Blogs can be about anything.
They are usually based on a particular topic or an individual's personal thoughts and opinions. Whether you want to post your personal thoughts on a world crisis, share your recipes or even start an online marketing business, your blog could be used to let people what you have to say.

Now, next step would be to choose a title, name and a subtitle for your blog. I am not talking about a domain, but the blog's name and description. Write the description like a headline and keep the title as short as possible. However, the subtitle can be longer. Now try and include your primary keyword in the title and a secondary keyword in the subtitle.

Blogs can also be branded just like any other product or service. A number of factors play a part in establishing your blog brand, i.e., site color and design, name and description, a particular product, service, or business etc. If you need to know more, checkout Wikipedia

Blogs often contain links to other related sites and are commonly free to operate. They require little knowledge to set up and are simple to update.

If you are newbie to the blogging world, you may wish to know the types blogs that are in existence. Note that this information is stolen, as it is too difficult to explain the blog lingo to newbies each time one has to write something about blogs.

Then there are the blog tools, blog promotion, get paid to blog information, new blog technologies, free blogs, blog templates, blog hosting, blog directories and blog pinging services and the rest. Be sure to get this info ahead of your blogging aspirations.

Many bloggers simply create their own blog using any of the standard blogging software but many sites have popped up offering specialized services for users to create their own travel blogs and share their photos.

Business blog

Blogs that are mainly speaking about business, talk about stock market behavior, political announcements that have either positive or negative impact on the overall business community.

Clubbox

A clubbox is a type of blog prevalent in East Asia where the owner, upon paying a monthly fee, can post daily personal entries, pictures, and videos and usually has a large amount of bandwidth to share. Personally, I don't what this is.

Cultural

Cultural blogs discuss music, sports, theater, other arts, and popular culture. Very popular with the online social networkers and ofcourse with the so-called intellectuals.

Moblog

A Moblog, or mobile blog, consists of content posted to the Internet from a mobile phone (i.e., cellular telephone) or a personal digital assistant (PDA). Moblogs may require special software. [These are for the desperate bloggers !]


Online diary

People blog poems, prose, complaints, daily experiences, and more, often allowing others to contribute. Popular online destinations for personal blogs include social networking sites such as MySpace and Xanga. A community or a cult, which has such tremendous exchange of views between each other.. You got to be a member to understand this.

Photoblog

Photoblogs consist of a gallery of images published regularly. Text following the image can be just as important, or not important at all, depending on the user. Adding a relevant picture to your posts can really add to the overall look of your blog and will reinforce the message of your post. You can use photos on your blog to emphasize a point, add some color, or just to amuse and entertain your readers. Chances are that readers will stay longer and come back to your blog more often.

Vlog

A Vlog, or video blog, consists of blog posts with mainly video content

War Blog

Personally, I don't know what this is, but it was listed in my research source.. hence this info. A warblog appears to be a web log devoted mostly or wholly to covering news events concerning an ongoing war. Sometimes the use of the term "warblog" implies that the blog concerned has a pro-war slant., but then again for bloggers, you don't need a war to write a blog, they manage to find a new issue everyday, and thrash it around until it gets murky and everyone leaves partly satisfied that they have contributed their two pennies worth.

Topical blogs

Topical blogs focus on a niche. For example, the Google Blog covers nothing but news about Google. A blog may fit more than one topical category or may be both topical and general. Blog directories must manage the needs of bloggers, who want to increase readership, and readers, who want relevant search results. Local blogs are a type of topical blog. Neighborhood reporting is ideal for blogging: Locals are the best witnesses of local events.

Travel Blogs

Travel blogs or journals are one of the web's most popular types of blogs, as people love to share their vacation stories and photos with friends, family and the web community as a whole. They are also a great way for traveler's to stay in touch with people back home, especially when traveling for extended periods.

Then there are the blog tools, blog promotion, get paid to blog information, new blog technologies, free blogs, blog templates, blog hosting, blog directories and blog pinging services and the rest. Be sure to get this info ahead of your blogging aspirations.

Many bloggers simply create their own blog using any of the standard blogging software but many sites have popped up offering specialized services for users to create their own travel blogs and share their photos.

Right now, there is a great deal of hype and talk about blogs, but when one strips them down and looks at them clearly, they discover that a blog is nothing more than a web site. In essence, a blog is a website featuring an easy to use content management system that allows for quick updating in chronological order.

The roots of blogging trace back to online journaling, but if viewed from a business perspective, their structure, treatment from search engines, and ease of use make them a wonderful moneymaking tool. This is because the sites are, invariably, heavy on content and are naturally organized in an intuitive fashion. Regardless of the platform one uses for blogging, they will be able to produce a content-based site featuring a series of potentially well-targeted pages.

Search engines love content and search engines usually do not like to index affiliate websites because the content is the same as hundreds of other affiliate's websites. But search engines like to index blogs because they provide new relevant content.

Textual content keeps search engine spiders well-fed and persuades them to visit again and again. Google, Yahoo and MSN reward informative sites chock-full of information with better positioning in search results and index these sites quickly.

Because blogs are content-driven, they share a great relationship with search engines. In the end, effective blog use produces high search engine rankings and, thus, great traffic levels. Traffic, of course, is a key to profitability. It is hard for a site to profit if no one sees it! The traffic advantages vis-à-vis search engines is one of the chief selling points of blog use.

If you are familiar with running a traditional website, you have undoubtedly learned two things. First, success will hinge, in large measure, on your ability to provide fresh content to your visitors. Second, adding new content to a static site can be a definite hassle.

In addition, one must write the content, convert it to HTML and then upload the page to the server. This drawn out procedure makes it all too cumbersome to making frequent updates, but, blogging solves this problem. All major blog platforms allow users to create new "posts" or blocks of content via an easy interface and to add them to the blog with a few simple mouse clicks.

Besides, blogs are generally search engine friendly because they are rich in text, links and unique information and the search engines are aware that they are updated on a regular basis, so they get a lot of priority in the search results. However, as an after thought and whether you operate a blog or a site, just remember that the search engine never really needs you, it is always the other way around.

The result is empowering.

Instead of dreading content updates, webmasters can actually look forward to adding new material in moments. Whether a blog user writes their own content or outsources the job to a pro, adding the new text is a simple and convenient proposition. This makes it easy to build the content-rich sites that soar to the top of the search engine rankings. It also creates a heightened level of stickiness for the blog, making return visitors far more likely. That traffic, when coupled with the right moneymaking strategy produces impressive results.

However, many bloggers start too many blogs and other things at one time that they have no way of seeing through as they spread themselves across too many projects too quickly. As a result, they shift from one unfinished project or idea to another, without seeing anything through, and tend to fail to build sustainable blogs because of their lack of focus.

Also blogs fall apart because of the fact that the blogger becomes carried away, and feels he is so self important, that they forget the important fact that the blog's rise entirely depends upon its readership. No sooner, they find it boring, they casually stop visiting it, a fact that they notice only very late, because of being so pre-occupied with themselves.

Now a lot of people have enquired whether they could make money from blogging; and the answer to the question is YES !!

In fact I would go on to say that it is possible for anyone, to make money from a blog. But the reality is that, most people who write blogs exclusively to make money really don't make a lot of money.

Some of the many reasons for this, are outlined below;

Blogging is a disciplined and ongoing process and fresh content is always necessary and no sooner people forego this due to other commitments, they lose out.

Next, although a blog may be a convenient tool to publish product information and reviews of affiliate programs. Don't give too much importance to placing ads and affiliate programs and cluster your blog with them. Remember, content always comes first.

Make it a point to monitor your blog and traffic graph regularly. As there are many opportunities and if you fail to take note of these opportunities, the chances are that you could miss out on something important.

Another factor for your blog to not generate income could be due to the fact that the topic and the subject you write about may not be conducive for generating blog incomes.

Then there is the problem, or in most cases the perceived problem of lack of writing skills. Now this is a subject of discussion, as the whole idea of the blog is to openly express your views, and the fact that visitors who come to your blog is because they like something about you or your style of writing or presentation. I have noted blogs of Iranians, who make up for their lack of writing skills in English through other methods, such as picture clips, video clips, recipes and cartoons. [Not to mention the fact that, the broken language is a treat by itself. Unfortunately, few of them realize this aspect.

So don't let the fact that you are not a writer, hamper your blog habit, because blogs are an area where you basically get to shout out and not worry about dotting your i's or spelling your mistakes. Not that this is not important, because as you mature, you would gradually give more importance to such factors and other formats important to income generation.

Besides, most successful blogs don't hit their strides until they are at least 8 to 12 months old

You can also turn your blog into a cash cow by using Google Adsense. This might be the easiest way to make some money. Adsense allows bloggers to display up to three content-specific "ad units" per page. You simply sign-up to use the [pay per click] PPC service and then, upon approval, you are able to choose the style of online ads to place on your blog. Each time a visitor clicks these ads, you get paid. Earn at least $100 and Google sends you a check.

Top Paying Keywords! $100 per click! You have seen these headlines, right? Now can one person clicking on you Adsense links really earn you a $100? Maybe, maybe not. There is no doubt that the Google Adsense program is one of the most successful affiliate marketing programs ever created, but can clicks on your Adsense links really earn you money? Yes, webmasters are making money with Google Adsense but how much, and how are they doing it is the real question.

In short, the greatest thing with Google Adsense is that you don't have to sell a thing. You get paid by Google every time someone clicks on the adverts that they place on your blog. But only use Google Adsense to supplement your affiliate marketing income and not replace it.

If you want to really monetize with Google Adsense, you have to pick topics whose AdWords advertisers spend mega-bucks per click. For example, if your blog is about topics such as debt consolidation or web hosting you'll earn much more per click than if it's about free things. On the other hand, if you concentrate only on top-paying keywords, you'll face an awful lot of tough competition. Basically, what you should aim for are keywords that are high in demand and low in supply. Mentioned here are some good Google Guides, which you can check out, and find ways and means to improve and increase your Adsense performances.

Now, if you have reservations about Google, there are other contextual ads as well.

CBprosense is similar in the way it works compared to other contextual ad delivery systems and delivers highly targeted ClickBank products that closely relate to the content of your page. The end result: lucrative ClickBank commission payouts for you! With most products paying anywhere from 40% to 75% in commission, you can earn up to a maximum of $100 per sale! In short, you get the ease of PPC publishing with the income of the best affiliate programs. There can always be a small nasty player out there, who can keep clicking on your Adsense online ads, which invariably leads to getting your account being banned by Google Adsense. So, put CBProsense as an alternative in your file for Adsense

Now, there is also the option of joining a network, that can bring in a higher revenue to your blog - Of course, you will be sharing the income with the owners of the blog networks in some way, i.e., like a percentage split. Even then it is quite worth it. In some more established networks the chances are you can get a flat fee per month for posting a certain amount of posts. You may also be able to obtain some incentives based upon factors like a set amount of traffic and revenue to your blog. But if you're not willing to share your blog or be participant to a network of bloggers, this just might not be for you.

Once again there are variations when it comes to who retains ownership of content - but this is a key question that you'll want to explore with a network before signing up with them. In many networks the content that you produce as a blogger is fully owned by the blog network and to put it bluntly, you are just contracted to write for them.

Then there are some problems when you decide to leave the network. When you are on a contract and you decide to leave the network, most likely you would get nothing but the earnings you earned during your stay. There are also networks that allow you to retain ownership of the content, but ask for some sort of exclusive rights to user your content in different forums. The question of being paid for this is something to be decided between you and the network. In short, most bloggers enjoy being a part of something larger than themselves, and it is this relationship that make the network experience worthwhile.

As a closing note; make a commitment to blog everyday. Few minutes a day can help increase your traffic as new content attracts search engine spiders. Put it on your schedule as a daily task.

For those interested in paid reviews and sponsored posts, the below links would be of help....

Blogsvertise
Payperpost
Sponsored Reviews
Smorty
RewardingReviews.com
ReviewMe!
Creamaid
Blogitive
Bloggerwave
Loud Launch
Blogging Ads
Blog To Profit
Pay U 2 Blog
ForumsFirst
mylot.com
duno.com

Largest Social Bookmarking Sites


Some easy references.........

The Bloggers Checklist
Article-Submission-Directories
Pings-and-Blogs
Web-Directory-Lists