Bob's Home Business Blog

Blogs and blogging have become a phenomenon on the World Wide Web and are an integral component for achieving success with your online home based business. Your blog acts as a stepping stone to your Internet marketing product offers or, if you’re building a list, to your squeeze page by attracting targeted visitors to your website content and redirecting them to your sales page or to your email list.

Of course in order to fulfill its role your blog needs to attract the number of prospects necessary to make sales and earn money for your Internet enterprise. Driving targeted traffic is one of the biggest challenges in the world of Internet marketing and here are 5 ways you can explode your numbers by drawing massive numbers of interested visitors to your blog:

1. Always create content with your target market in mind. To ensure your website visitors are also hot prospects you have to give them what they want so they’ll land on your web page to take advantage if what you’re providing. Like they say in the movie “The Field of Dreams”: “If you build it they will come” or in your case, relating it to your blog, if you create it they will come.

2. The old internet marketing adage which says: “Content is king” is just as true today as it always has been in the past. By creating targeted information which solves your prospects problems or answers their questions you will attract a flood of interested people to your web page on a regular basis.

3. By updating your blog with original information on a regular basis you’ll satisfy Google and company’s thirst for fresh content and they’ll reward you with targeted visitors by ranking you highly in the search results for your blog’s keywords.

4. Try to create evergreen content in order to keep your blog fresh and timeless so people will still be interested 10 years or even 30 years from now. If your information remains relevant by with standing the test of time you’ll save yourself the time and energy necessary to update it every 6 months to keep your visitors satisfied so they’ll keep coming back for more.

5. Make sure you optimize your website for the major search engines online. The best way to begin is by choosing a keyword rich domain name to help you rank highly for searches related to these phrases. Also, sprinkle your keywords throughout your posts to attract Google’s attention so they’ll send you the targeted visitors you need.

By keeping these 5 strategies in mind when you’re creating your home business blog and whenever you’re creating new content you’ll achieve long term success on the Web by attracting the interested people you need on a regular basis to make money online.

Bob Withers

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Words can be a very powerful wealth generating tool online providing you know how to use them correctly and you know what to do with them after you’ve written them. Just ask any one of a number of bloggers on the web who have made their fortune with the written word or in this case the word processor or lap top generated character. Of course there are several steps involved when setting up your Internet home business so you can blog your way to wealth.

First of all, you need to find a niche hungry of buyers who want all the information you can provide on their given topic. These people must not only want your information but they must also be willing to pay for it so they can solve a particular problem they may be having.

When you’ve found your target market you now need to create your blog by tailoring it to suit the needs of your audience. You should also research your competition to find out why they’re so popular with their readers and how you can create a website that sets you apart from them or makes you unique.

Once you’ve completed this step you now need to monetize your blog and start generating targeted traffic to it so you can make some money. Search engine optimization is a great way to attract the people you want on your website and you can do this by writing articles containing keywords related to your niche topic or theme.

You can tag each of your posts with relevant keywords and also use them for your category titles to attract Google and company’s attention. Next you ping the blog directories every time you make a new post so they will crawl your site whenever you publish a new article.

Your final chore with regard to this is to create content that keeps your readers coming back for more. Return traffic is the life blood of any online home business or blog so you’ll need to always create and provide information with your audience in mind.

Some of the most popular concepts are top ten lists, how to articles, product reviews and editorials written about controversial topics. This type of article gets your readers involved and encourages them to communicate with each other. This is another effective technique to get them to come back to your blog time after time.

Now you must monetize your blog by promoting your own product if you have one or by advertising affiliate merchandise to your visitors. You can also add CPA offers so you’ll receive a commission every time one of your readers performs a specific act such as leaving their email address or filling out a form.

Google’s adsense program can also be a very lucrative opportunity when employed correctly. In this case you’re remunerated each time someone clicks on one of your adsense ads which are strategically placed around your blog.

So creating a rewarding full time income from your online home business can be as easy as setting up a blog, monetizing it with your hungry niche in mind and then driving targeted traffic to your website on a daily basis.

Bob Withers

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There are many ways to make a comfortable living online and many people have made a fortune by blogging from home. The following statistics, courtesy of “The West Program Blog” give you some idea of its popularity and of where it’s headed in the near future:

“There have been more than 133,000,000 blogs indexed by Technorati since 2002. According to Universal McCann 77% of Internet users read blogs. About half of all Bloggers are working on at least their second blog and 86% have been blogging for a year or more. 61% state that they blog in an effort to supplement their income.”

To get in on the blogging phenomenon as a home based business the first thing you need to do is set up a blog that’s targeted toward a specific audience. In other words, your blog’s topic should be directed at a niche market that’s hungry for the information you’re providing.

Research is very important at this stage because you need to know that your target market is willing to pay for the information they need to solve their problems or the advice they want to make their lives easier in some way. You should be able to accomplish this by discovering what they’re currently buying so you can monetize your website accordingly.

You should also examine the competition’s blogs to get an understanding of why they’re so popular and of how they’re making so much money. This information will give you a good idea of how to construct your web page so that it stands out from the crowd, so it’s monetized appropriately for your targeted niche and so it attracts the targeted traffic you need to make money right from the start.

There are many ways to monetize your home business blog including, but not limited to, promoting your own products,  advertising affiliate products or other people’s merchandise, employing Google’s ad sense ads and making money when someone clicks on an advertisement on your blog or by promoting cost per action offers whereby you get paid every time one of your visitors performs a specific act such as filling out a form or an application for information.

After you’ve decided how you’re going to make money from your website you now need to buy an appropriate domain name from one of the many providers online. Next, you have to download the software you need to set up your blog either from WordPress or Blogger and finally you just have to do it.

Start writing articles containing keywords targeted toward your niche topic. Remember, content is king and the more you have on your home page the more targeted traffic you’ll drive to your home business blog. Updating your website by adding original content as often as possible will attract the major search engines attention and help you get ranked for searches related to your blog’s keywords.

Now that you have the basics in place your next step is to start driving as many people as possible from your niche to your blog so you’ll start making money online and you’ll begin to realize your dream of making a living from your home based business.

Bob Withers

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When you’re starting out online with a home based business any Internet marketer worth his salt will tell you should have a blog. This is recommended as a way to drive traffic to your content which creates back links from other websites to your product offer.

The quickest and easiest way to create your blog is through word press. They provide the web page for you free of charge as well as step-by-step instructions on how to create your Internet site. In order to attract the Internet traffic you need to make sales and profits and succeed online you must optimize your website to get the attention of the major search engines on the web.

These optimization strategies help you get ranked for searches related to your key words. A first page listing is the ultimate goal for any online enterprise because this translates into more visitors to your web page.

Here are 5 search engine optimization tactics you can use to help get your word press blog ranked on page one of Google and company:

1. Before you add any content to your blog you should use the Google key word research tool to find the best phrase to construct your web page around. Long tail key words are often best to use because it’s very difficult to rank on the first page for more competitive words. Your long tail phrases should contain four or five words related to your overall topic or theme which are searched for online.

2. Once you’ve discovered your key words you should install the word press SEO plug-in which will help make the search engines take notice of your blog. This tool will allow you to enter your website’s key words to the title tag, to the meta key words and to the meta description area to help maximize the traffic to your blog posts.

3. Adding unique content to your blog on a regular basis is an excellent strategy for getting ranked within the search engines. Writing your own articles on topics related to your key words will increase your blog’s appearance in the search results for your key phrases. If you aren’t into writing you can out source this chore and pay someone to write editorials for you to add to your site.

4. Your permalink settings should be arranged so your blog post title is displayed within your URL. This also helps Google, Yahoo and Bing locate your website because you now have more key words displayed on your home page

5. Because of the popularity of social media websites on the web social media plug-ins are a great way to invite your readers to interact with your content. By liking your post on facebook or tweeting it to their followers via twitter your visitors will help increase traffic to your blog, increase the number of back links to your site on the Internet as well as help your article get indexed faster by the search engines.

Search engine optimization is an important strategy to master so your word press blog receives the attention it deserves from Google and friends and your online home business prospers as a result.

Bob Withers

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If you’ve started a home based business online you will soon find that having a blog will be an integral part of your Internet marketing strategy and will be an absolute must if you want to enjoy success on the web. By providing valuable content on a regular basis to your niche market you can build your email list and explode your sales and profits on the Internet. Blogging, in and of itself, can be a very profitable endeavor if done correctly.

Bearing this in mind here are 5 tips to help take your blog to the next level in terms of popularity and profitability online:

1. Never take your regular visitors and your subscribers for granted. Ask them what they want that you’re not providing at the moment and ask for their overall opinion on your content. You can accomplish this by creating a questionnaire that you can ask your members to fill out in exchange for a free gift.

If your visitors become bored they will soon unsubscribe from your list and leave your website to find what they’re looking for in the way of valuable information and entertainment. You may be able to avoid this by getting their input and by trying to answer their concerns on a regular basis.

2. Make sure your headline or your blog title is thought provoking so it will entice your visitors into wanting to read more. Certain words when used in a headline seem to peak potential reader’s interest and learning how to incorporate these triggers into your subject line will increase your readership and your overall website traffic.

3. Try to keep your blog timely by addressing the controversial issues of the day. People love to take a stand on one side or the other of an argument or a debate about the hot topic of the day. When you’ve written your side of the story be sure to ask your readers how they feel about the subject. This is a great way to stir the pot and to get your visitors involved in the dispute so they’ll want to come back to your blog for more information.

4. Give your readers free valuable content on a regular basis. If people derive worth from your information they’ll begin to feel they can trust you and rely on you and your blog for the details they need about your niche. As we all know, relationship building is a vital stage in the sales process because if people feel they know you they’re more likely to do business with you and your home business.

5. Try to add a new blog post on a regular and timely basis. People are creatures of habit and if they enjoy your writing they will usually come back at the same time they discovered your work. If they find you haven’t updated your website after several visits you will soon lose their interest and your blog may not see them again.

Therefore try to add new information at the same time every day or at the very least every second day and you’ll soon see an increase in your website traffic, your return visitors and your sales and profits.

Blogs and blogging have become an Internet industry and the better you are at it the more money you’ll make and the more success your home based business will enjoy online.

Bob Withers

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Blogs and blogging are a force to be reckoned with online and seem to growing in importance every day. Here are some statistics courtesy of Technorati to back up this claim:

 - More than 133,000,000 blogs have been indexed by Technorati since 2002.
 - 77% of Internet users read blogs according to Universal McCann.
 - Approximately 50% of Bloggers are working on at least their second blog.
 - 68% have been blogging for two years or more.
 - 72% say they blog in order to share their expertise.
 - 61% say they blog in order to supplement their income.
 - 72% of those who are self-employed and blogging are interested in attracting new clients.
 - 56% say that their blog has helped their company establish a positioning as a thought leader within the industry.
 - 58% say that they are better-known in their industry because of their blog.

These numbers alone show us that blogging is an integral part of life on the web and businesses on the Internet rely on them for many reasons. As a home based business owner online having your own blog can help you and your enterprise in many ways and this editorial will demonstrate how your blog can help turn your e-business into a success story.

One of the first things you should do after creating your home business website is build your blog. Of course your Internet journal should be related to your home page theme because ultimately you want your blog traffic to wind up on your business website because this is one of the primary functions or goals of your blog site. Any posts you write should be about your business and your products and should contain links which redirect your readers to your sales page and product offers.

A blog helps establish you as an expert in your particular field which helps you gain a reputation on the web as a respected business person. This respect will help you to establish relationships with your website visitors when they begin to contact you through your Internet journal to ask questions or to request help with a problem they may be having related t your topic or theme.

Relationship building is time well spent because people who feel as though they know and trust you and respect your opinion on different subjects are more likely to do business with you than with a perfect stranger.

As you may have heard from other Internet marketers online “the money is in the list.” In my opinion this adage rings more true today than it ever has. Email marketing is still a very lucrative way to make a living on the web and by having your own blog you have another way to effectively build your own targeted and responsive potential customer contact list.  

By adding a squeeze page or landing page to your blog you can capture your readers contact information by offering a free gift in exchange for their name and email address. This so called freebie should be something of value to your visitors and related to the theme of your home business and of course to the topic of your Internet journal.

Because so many people online read blogs if you don’t have one you will be missing out on the opportunity to attract a vast targeted viewership to your home business via your blog site. By writing your articles about your business theme you will attract only people who have an interest in your topic and therefore who are only curious about what you’re selling. Therefore having a blog will increase the probability that your visitors will purchase your products.

Blogs and blogging are a vital component of any home based business opportunity online today and if you don’t take advantage of the opportunities offered by using this medium you may never realize your potential as a business person on the web.   

Bob Withers 

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If you’re just starting out online with a home based business and you’ve decided to try autoblogging as an online career then there are a few pitfalls you should try to avoid to make your path to success a little faster and easier. For the uninitiated, who may be reading this article, autoblogging is the process of creating a series of blogs online which work on auto pilot. This type of website seeks out and finds new content on a regular basis and automatically updates itself with this fresh information.

When implemented correctly autoblogging can turn into a very lucrative home based income from the web. The key phrase at work here is “implemented correctly” and here are 5 gaffes you should steer clear of to help ensure your blog network is created as stress free and as efficiently as possible.

1. If you’re considering purchasing an autoblogging course from an Internet marketer online be sure to do your research to make sure you aren’t saddled with an autosplogging course. A splog is a very unattractive web page or blog containing terrible content which provides no value to your visitors. The site is full of blatant affiliate ads and banners which also aren’t appreciated by the search engines.

Any self respecting home business owner or Internet marketer would be embarrassed and ashamed to be associated with any of these websites. Some of these autoblogging courses provide software which simply steals content from respectable blogs and then republishes some or all of this content on its own blog. Most of these splogs are dead in the eyes of the search engines not long after being published online so making a career using this type of software is impossible.  

2. Excessive pinging can sound the death knell for your newly created blogs on the web. Pinging is announcing to the world of hub sites online that your blog was just updated with fresh content. Pinging has been a very successful approach in the past but more recently Google has placed more value on a website which is discovered by more natural means. Pinging several sites when you publish new information is fine but seventy pings is over kill in the search engine’s eyes.

3. Updating your blogs with duplicate content is another way you can get ignored by Google and the other major search engines online. The old Internet marketing adage “content drives traffic” still rings true today; however this saying should be amended to state “fresh content drives traffic”. Autoblogging software which takes content from other websites and places it on your blogs will place your new home business career in serious jeopardy and in all likelihood make it a short lived one.

4. Excessive back linking is another serious offence when it comes to autoblogging. This  happens when these splog sites go out of their way to create back links using any trick they can imagine which is quickly recognized by the search engines. Having websites link to your blog naturally is the most effective way to generate income from your home business and this can only be achieved by adding quality content which offers value to your readers.

5. Neglecting to analyze your blog statistics or your Google analytics will make it very difficult to get ranked highly in search results. Listen to what Google is telling you and you will be able to optimize your blog in order to make it as attractive as possible to the search engines in order to achieve the ranking you need.

Avoiding these 5 faux pauxs will make your home based autoblogging business career a longer and more financially rewarding experience on the web. 

Bob Withers

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Blogs and blogging have become an Internet phenomenon. According to Phil Bradley’s weblog: “More than 133,000,000 blogs have been indexed by Technorati since 2002. 77% of Internet users read blogs according to Universal McCann. 61% say they blog in order to supplement their income. 53% of professional Bloggers are interested in attracting new clients from blogging.”

“72% of those who are self-employed and blogging are interested in attracting new clients. Part-Timers, Pros, and Self-Employed Bloggers are blogging as much as or more than ever (73%, 76% and 80%, respectively), while Hobbyists are blogging somewhat less. 56% say that their blog has helped their company establish a positioning as a thought leader within the industry. 58% say that they are better-known in their industry because of their blog.”

Technorati reports: “Of those who have monetized their blogging to at least some extent:

• 54% are Part-Timers
• 32% are Self-Employed
• 14% are Corporate

While the mean annual revenue for those who advertised on their blogs was $42,548.00 for all, part-timers averaged $14,447.00 and for those who were self-employed income was $122,222.00.”

These statistics alone prove there is a vast market available for anyone interested in creating a home based business through blogging and 3 types of blogs you can profit from are:

1. Automated affiliate blogs can be set up to run essentially on their own. Instead of adding your content and your products by hand, you can add a special script that will post product images, descriptions and your affiliate links automatically. These scripts are known as affiliate data feed scripts and the major affiliate networks online allow you as the webmaster to upload data feeds of all their products.

These ’feeds’ are actually just text files which contain a list of their products, specially formatted to be pulled in and displayed by a data feed script. This simplifies the whole affiliate blog process because when you join an affiliate program which has data feeds you simply request data feed access and you automatically have your own virtual store.

 Because most of the content creation is taken care of for you, this frees up more time for you to concentrate on marketing your blog and driving traffic to your website. However, as a side note, it is best to add some of your own content to give your site its own identity and a human face so as to avoid any spamming accusations.

2. Informational blogs are another popular form of day-to-day editorializing. These type of blogs usually concentrate on news and “how to” articles and these are the most fashionable in the world of Internet marketing. For example, an Internet marketing focused blog would contain articles related to different areas of advertising online such as traffic generation. These editorials would then contain links to products related to this topic which your visitors can purchase. You can also monetize your website in other ways such as including adsense ads and banner advertising.  

3. Product Review Blogs are popular, profitable and can be very interesting to create. This type of website keeps their readers updated on the latest news about the newer products on the market as well as reviews of each new device on the web. However, blogs like these can involve a lot of research and hard work depending on how you approach it. It would be much easier to focus on one product niche rather than having a broad overall view of the new merchandise because you would never find the time to use all of the gadgets before writing your review.

Also access to some of the newer items could also pose a problem. For example, zoom in on the newest DVD players on the market or the latest flat screen televisions. This will make your task less time consuming and allow you to focus on other areas of your enterprise. These blogs can also be monetized in the same way as informational blogs by adding adsense, affiliate links and banners.

Taking either of these 3 approaches, and implementing them correctly, can provide you with a handsome income from your home based business online for many years to come.

Bob Withers

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According to Marketing Terms website: “A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person’s life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people.”

“People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably the Blogger website. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process.”

Caslon Analytics website reports: “In July 2006 the Pew Internet & American Life Project estimated that the US blog population has grown to about 12 million American adults, some 8% of US adult internet users. The number of US blog readers was estimated as 57 million adults (39% of the US online population), although few of those people read widely or read often.”

Blogs have become one of the most popular means for ordinary people to make money online as home based business opportunities and here five reasons why:

1. Blogging made the possibility of creating and maintaining a website available to even the most technically challenged of us on the web. Websites such as WordPress make the web pages available free of charge and show people step-by-step how to create your blog and how to add content on a regular basis.

The simplicity of creating and updating a blog has allowed anyone and everyone who is interested in becoming an online blogger the opportunity to chronologically display their thoughts, their opinions and even their daily activities to the world. This ease of creation and entry into the World Wide Web spawned the idea that blogging could become an online money making opportunity.

2. The major search engines on the web, such as Google, love blogs and their content and this makes it a little easier to have your home business listed highly in search engine rankings. These high page rankings allow you to get your blog and your home business in front of thousands of potential customers on the Internet and it’s all free of charge.

The key to maintaining your search engine rankings is to update your website on a regular basis with fresh content. As any Internet marketer worth his or her salt will tell you “content drives traffic” and of course traffic drives sales and sales drive profits which will make your blog and your enterprise successful entities online.

3. Blogs and affiliate marketing seem to be made for each other. Affiliate marketing has become a financial boon for many home business owners on the web and by using your blog to promote other people’s products you can create a lucrative income from the comfort of your own home.

Simply by marketing your blog on the Internet and by placing advertisements for affiliate merchandise on your website you can collect a handsome commission from each sale you make when people click on your ads and agree to purchase your products.

4. Blogs allow your visitors to interact with you and your website by leaving comments. This provides the opportunity for creating relationships with your guests and potential customers. When people feel like they know and trust you and your home business they are more likely to become paying customers.

5. This relationship building opportunity presented by blogs opens the doors to other opportunities for both you and your guests. For example, you can swap links with your visitors by agreeing to place their website link on your blog if they will reciprocate. This is a great traffic generation technique.

Also, you may discover some of your guests are also Internet marketers and when you get to know them better you can suggest business alliances such as joint ventures to help promote each other’s business and help increase traffic and sales.

Blogs by their very nature are natural communication and relationship building tools which lead to many more opportunities for success for your home based business venture online. 

Bob Withers

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Blogging can be a very lucrative and rewarding home business career if approached with the correct mindset. Many Internet marketers are experiencing a great deal of success with their blogs and many more hopefuls are entering the market every day. These new entrants’ ultimate success or failure in this field depends on several factors but these are situations which are within their control so the final outcome is in their hands.

People enter the blogging world under the influence of several misconceptions and coming face to face with these fallacies and recognizing them for what they are is the first step toward a thriving home based business career and a prosperous blogging experience.

Here are the four main reasons why most blogger’s fail online:

1. People believe operating a successful blog is an easy undertaking and success will happen overnight. As with any Internet marketing business it takes long hours and tremendous discipline, especially in the beginning, to establish your home business blog online and to get the traffic you need to start making money from your venture.

Content doesn’t write itself and as we all know by now content drives traffic so you must be prepared to put in the effort and on a regular basis to produce the results you need. The widely held misconception on the web that a couple of hours of work a day will result in a full time income will be a rude awakening for anyone expecting this result.

2. Before beginning your blogging career you must ask yourself this important question and answer it honestly; “Do I love to write?” If you’re only entering this field for a fast buck or because you’ve heard how much money you can make from it you will be defeated even before you start.

You must love the process because it will require a daily effort on your behalf to keep your website updated with fresh quality content to keep your home business on the map as far as the major search engines are concerned. Writing and advertising are the two most important activities you will need to perform on a regular basis.

3. People sometimes enter a niche for all the wrong reasons. Bloggers enter a market because it’s popular and profitable and not because they love the topic and are very knowledgeable in this area. You must enjoy what you’re doing and you must know what you’re writing about.

People will soon see through articles which are only written for the sake of adding content to keep the search engines happy. You must embrace your theme and develop your content with a passion that comes from your enjoyment of what you do.

4. You must be patient and when you can finally see the fruits of your labor don’t be in a rush to expand your home business by creating another blog. Spreading yourself too thin by focusing your efforts on another website usually results in your successful blog suffering from lack of attention. Why not concentrate on taking your flourishing web page to the next level by further increasing your profits from this site.

By approaching your home business blog with the knowledge that it’s going to take effort, commitment, discipline and dedication to achieve the results you’re looking for you will have taken the first step toward attaining the long term Internet marketing career you’re seeking.  

Bob Withers

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